Friends With Benefits
by AlphaWriter1
Summary: After Sectionals, Puck's busy looking for a new "friend", because Santana's grown a little too clingy for his liking. Rachel's pissed off at Finn, for rejecting the relationship she's offering to him, and she's out for a little revenge. When these two Jewish cliches meet, and decide to combine their needs, they get a little more than they bargained for. Canon up to Sectionals.
1. Chapter 1

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 1**

Noah Puckerman really needed a new sex pal. He was depending on cougars now, and most of them no longer needed their pools cleaned with the suddenly cold weather that came with fall in Ohio. He was a sex shark, and he was supposed to always be moving forward, but instead, he was in some kind of sleep mode. So, it was only understandable that he was scanning the New Directions female population for a nice new victim when he was supposed to be listening to Mr. Shuester, the annoying spanish teacher discuss their assignment for the week. He was pretty sure it had something to do with duets.

Santana Lopez? Yeah, he'd been there. He'd done that-many times. It didn't work out well. She grew a little bit too attached to him, even though they weren't exactly dating. That sickened him a little bit. He was a no-strings-attached type of guy, after all. He was in this for one thing-sex. And that was all he wanted to get from it.

Brittany Pierce? She was sexy as sin, that couldn't be argued, but she was Santana's best friend. Sure, she wasn't the brightest crayon in the Crayola box, but that didn't mean she'd turn on her best friend for a chance to get into bed with Puck. Anyways, Puck was pretty sure that Santana and Brittany had some sort of arrangement of their own-and while he'd normally be all over that, it brought him back to the aforementioned Santana problem.

Quinn Fabray? He'd already tapped that one, and it had ended in disaster. He wasn't even sure why he'd ever done it, looking back. It didn't matter though, because while she was single and had finally admitted to the baby being his, Puck wanted nothing to do with the psycho, hormonal crack pot that was the beautiful, blonde head cheerleader with a nice ass. After all, she'd told him that he was nothing more than a Lima Loser just a few weeks ago. And Puck did not want to be with somebody as ignorant as her, judging him because of family life.

Well, that cut out every single Cheerio in the club. Except for one.

Mercedes Jones? Well, she was a diva. Puck didn't mind a lot of woman, and he didn't care about color or anything like that, but she was just much too much for him. He'd dated her for a short while, after all, and he'd always been told what to do and what not to by her. That wasn't something that Puck enjoyed hearing from his girlfriend. She was supposed to do as he requested, after all.

He shook his head as he tried to figure out who was worthy of the school's local bad-ass. The guy with a permanent record larger than his biceps.

Tina Cohen-Chang? Well, that could work. She was rather nice looking, and she was awfully quiet, which made Puck believe she wouldn't be bossy or too clingy. She also had a streak for being a bit of a bad ass herself. Still, Puck couldn't do anything to hurt Artie Abrams-he was in a wheel chair, for god's shake, and Puck didn't steal girls from crippled kids. It just wasn't cool and it wasn't acceptable.

"Noah?" Puck looked up to see Rachel Berry, the only female Jewish girl in all of McKinley standing in front of him. There was something special about her that allowed her to call him Noah, while everybody else called him Puck-or else they would be forced to see stars and walk around with at least a black eye. "Would you like to be my duet partner for this week's assignment?" She asked sweetly, clasping her hands together behind her back as she smiled at him.

Puck had to admit that this girl was beautiful, in every single way imaginable. She had a lovely smile and that Jewish face, with long, flowing dark hair and eyes to match. Her skin was tanned evenly and then she had a body to kill. She was short, yet her legs managed to be long and seemingly endless with their toned muscles. She was skinny, with soft subtle curves that led to a secret, sneaky kind of hot that always made him want more of her. And, they had dated for a brief period of time, and he had to admit that she was one heck of a kisser.

"Yeah, sure," Puck smiled lazily back at her, leaning back in his chair.

His mission for a new sex buddy was one hundred percent accomplished, all because of lame 's stupid assignment and Rachel Berry's anger at Finn Hudson.


	2. Chapter 2

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 2**

"So, what song would you like to sing, Noah?" Rachel Berry asked as she sat at her make-up table, facing Noah Puckerman, who was sitting on the trunk that was located at the foot of her bed.

"You haven't got that all figured out yet?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at the girl as he ran a hand through his dark brown mohawk. Rachel frowned, not quite sure if he was joking or not. She could never really tell with him, because his play-boy smirk was always in place, and his eyes hide all of his emotion. All she ever had to go on was his tone and his words. And she had the hardest time reading the school's bad ass, because his tone did not match his words or his bad reputation.

"Of course I've got a few options, but I always like to communicate with the person I'm singing with, in order to make sure we're on the same page," She explained, choosing to ignore what could have been an insult or a joke and take it seriously instead. That was usually the safe bet when it came to dealing with Noah Puckerman.

"Berry," He sighed, shaking his head. "Haven't you learned by now that I never pay attention in Glee? I don't even know what the assignment is, so give me something to go on here," He said. Rachel was shocked by his polite matter in teasing her. There was a bit of seriousness in his voice, but there was humor there as well. Rachel giggled at him, crossing her arms over her chest and mock-glaring at him. He raised his eyebrows at her, something she was a little shocked by. He normally only did that when it came to observing girls he was more than a little interested in, ready to have sex with them at the drop of a hat. He never gave a girl like her that look.

"Noah," She said sternly, but a playful smile was on her face. "What on earth am I going to do with you?" She wondered, rolling her eyes at him.

"Teach me a lesson?" He offered, a hopeful smile replacing his usual, careless one and his eyes lighting up a bit.

She was a little shocked by his attitude towards her. He was...flirting with her. And she was not exotically beautiful like Santana. She wasn't a classic American beauty like Quinn. Nor was she that naively stupid type of girl like Brittany. There was nothing about her that should interest Puck, yet here they were.

"Noah-the assignment was to sing a duet that would include your emotions to it. Mr. Shue was really hoping that we'd all choose to go for anger, pain, or lust," She explained to him. She didn't want to worry herself with his senseless flirting. After all, he was the type of boy who enjoyed his women and he enjoyed to have many of them. She was sure he was only flirting with her because she was a girl, and that was good enough for Puck.

"Okay, so let's go with lust. Nice and easy," He said eagerly.

She thought for a second, raising an eyebrow at him as she studied him, before turning around and flipping through her sheet music books, looking for the proper duet for her and Puck to perform. She needed it to be perfect, because she'd selected Noah Puckerman for a partner for only one reason. To anger Finn Hudson.

How dare Finn not want to be with her, when she'd been the one to tell him that Quinn and Puck were the parents of the baby Quinn, his girlfriend (now ex) had chosen to lie about? She'd always been there for him, allowing him to lie and use her. And it wasn't fair of him to treat her like a piece of shit now that he was a free man, able to date whoever he wanted to. So, she was going to hit him where it would really hurt him-his pride. And show him that he was easily replaceable. And by using Noah, it would really get her point across to him.

"Hey, what about that song from _RENT? _Um...it's called _I Should Tell You _or something like that?" Puck wondered. "It's kind of angst-y, which is sad, right? But it's got the lust factor too, because they're so into each other-Roger and Mimi, I mean?" He asked.

Rachel's jaw dropped. Not by Puck's song choice, well, not completely because of that. But mostly because of his knowledge on the song background, the character, and obviously the plot line of one of her favorite non-Barbra Streisand musicals. She turned around slowly and eyed him carefully.

"What? I like that musical," He shrugged, lowering his gaze away from her.

"Why'd you agree to be my partner?" Rachel wondered, her own gaze locked on the top of his head. She knew that he had to have some sort of reason, and she wasn't going to be able to focus until she knew what it was.

"Because I like you, Berry," He shrugged again, slowly looking up at her now. He looked so young, like a little child. It surprised her to see the big, bad (ass) Noah Puckerman in this state. But, it only reminded her of why she called him Noah. In these few moments of his insecurities, she remembered that he wasn't Puck, but Noah.

Then again, it was rare for Noah to come out into the open, even if it was just the two of them. She raised her eyebrows and gave him a disbelieving glance. She understood that when her Noah came out like this, in full force with honesty and sweetness, he wanted something. And Rachel refused to give in before she knew every little detail of what he wanted from her. And got her own say in the matter, of course.

"I need a new sex buddy, okay?" He sighed. Rachel relaxed, grateful that it wasn't something more extreme. "And you clearly want your revenge of Finn, right? Well, this way we can both get what we want," He shrugged.

"What am I entitled by this?" She wondered. She better get a hell of a lot from this deal, after all. "And what am I expected to do?" She added, slightly fearful of what this boy would ask. A main part of their break-up had been because of his constant desire to move faster than she wanted and to go further than she was comfortable with.

In a way, she knew she should feel honored that a guy like Puck wanted that from her, but she didn't exactly want it from him.

"I'd give you protection-no more slushy facials, no more Santana harassment-no bullying at all, actually. I'd even get Jacob to lay off," He said, giving her one of those rare, sweet, secretive smiles that she loved so much. "And all you have to do is play the role a girlfriend would play, without any of the strings or attachments of being an actual girlfriend. We make out, have a good time, but there's no extra expectations," He explained to her carefully.

"You have to play the jealous card," Rachel blurted out. If she was going to do this, she wanted it to affect Finn. "To make Finn really mad, you know?" She asked softly.

"Alright," Puck nodded, after a few moments thought.

"And I expect rides to and from school. And other places as well. My stoplight on sex is still as it was before, alright?" She said. He opened his mouth to protest but she continued, blocking him out. "And you should call me, each and every night, as well as walk me to class," She requested.

"I'll text you goodnight and good morning. I'll call you, but we're not talking for hours. I'll give you rides whenever you want, within reason, but you're helping out with gas prices," He began. "It's even better for our plan if I'm walking you to classes, so that's fine. But no more animal sweaters, alright? The short skirts, the knee high socks-those are adorable, and actually pretty sexy on you. But the sweaters? Kiss them goodbye." He said. Rachel glared, but she nodded. "And as for the no sex rule? Well, we'll see about that one, as this goes on," He winked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Friends With Benefits  
A GlEe Fan Fiction  
Chapter 3**

Noah Puckerman understood that Rachel Berry really wanted to mess with Finn Hudson's head. That was why she'd agreed to the arrangement he'd come up with. So, before he'd left her house the night before, he'd left her his old football sweatshirt from the year before-his freshman year. Those were the sweatshirts most boys allowed their girlfriends to wear because of the small, cursivey manuscript that their last names were written in on the arms of the hoodies. They thought that made it girly. Puck's name was scrawled across the back-Ken hadn't allowed him to use his nickname that year-and his number, 20, was right under neath.

He hadn't been sure that Rachel would wear it to school the next day, but he had to smile when the short girl came walking out of her house with the oversized sweatshirt on. It fell almost to her knees and she wore it with a pair of knee length black leggings-and that was it, besides her black ballet flats. Puck's eyes widened as she approached the car, staring up at the door and raising her eyebrow at him.

He shook his head, that half grin filling his face as he opened the door and climbed out, walking around the side of the truck. He opened her door for her and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her up. He kept his arms on her tiny waist as he set her on the seat.

"Where's my reward?" He asked, a teasing smile working its way across his mouth.

"Hmmm," She mumbled softly, rubbing her lips together. Puck bit his lip, fighting back a groan. The tiniest things she did were often the sexiest in his mind. "Here," SHe whispered, leaning in closely and giving him a small peck on the mouth before pushing back and buckling her seat beat.

"That's it?" He asked, hating the whine that was in his voice. It was like he was begging _Rachel Berry _kiss him. That wasn't how the sex god that was Noah Puckerman worked.

"You've got to earn something better," She replied with a shrug as she closed the door on his face.

He sighed, sulking in an overly dramatic way as he slouched back to the driver's side, climbing back into his truck and starting it up. He went to reach for the radio, but she reached out and stopped him, a soft hand resting gently over his. He drew it back and replaced it on the wheel, turning to stare at her.

"I got rid of the sweaters. Kurt's giving me a make-over, actually," Rachel whispered. "He's very eager to help, now that I'm not after impressing Finn," She informed him.

"Finn's not worth your time," Puck blurted.

She turned to study him, a surprised expression taking over her face. Puck was surprised as well. Finn was his best friend. Or, at least, he'd been, before the baby gate scandal. He wasn't sure what made him react that way to Rachel's comment. He couldn't even figure out what had made him say something like that about Finn Hudson, the boy who was supposed to be his wing man. Then again-he'd also slept with Finn's girlfriend.

"No, I suppose you're right," Rachel nodded thoughtfully. "Although, I wouldn't exactly say that Quinn's worth his time, either, yet he's still chasing after her, isn't he?" She asked him.

"I don't want to talk about Finn," He growled, shaking his head.

"Alright," She nodded. "I wasn't bringing it up to discuss him anyways. I was merely wondering what you thought about my wardrobe for my first day as Noah Puckerman's sex buddy," She wondered, tilting her head to the side. "Unless, of course, people don't exactly know that's the deal," She went on.

"No, people know that it's going on. They just call it my girlfriend. They just understand that it's not anything too firm or solid. They'll be betting on my reasons and the length of the relationship soon enough," He shrugged.

"So I'm your girlfriend?" She asked. "Noah Puckerman's girlfriend..."She whispered, as if she was trying the title on for herself.

"Why do you keep referring to me with my full name?" He asked her. "At school, I'm Puck-no matter who's talking to me." He said. "Well, no, that's not exactly true. Sometimes I'm Puckerman." He reasoned. "But you're the only person in the entire school who calls me Noah, you know," He pointed out.

"I've noticed." She said, reaching for his hand as he went for the radio again. He smiled to himself, twisting his own so that he was holding her hand. He rested their intertwined fingers on the gear shift. "Why is that?" She asked. "It's been bothering me for a while, now, actually, and quite a few people have asked me why I call you that," She explained. "So, I was just wondering why I'm allowed to call you Noah, when you'd kick anybody else's ass if they tried," She wondered.

"You're Jewish," He said quickly, his typical response for that matter. For anything special he allowed Rachel to do that nobody else was allowed to do.

"I've heard that one, actually-and for a while there, I pondered on that reason. But I don't think that's it. Not all of it, anyways," She told him, turning her head to face him. "You don't have to hide anything from me, Noah, you know that right? You can be honest with me. I won't laugh." She told him, a sweet smile on her face.

"It's because...it's because-do you remember the first time you called me Noah?" He asked.

"We met at the JCC, and I knew your name was Noah," Rachel began. "We were five years old-it was right before kindergarden started. We went to the same school, but we were in different classes," She went on to explain. "Somewhere along the way, you changed your name. At the JCC, I always called you Noah. When middle school started-sixth grade-I saw you again, and we actually had classes together. I never knew you went by Puck, so I called you Noah when I saw you. And everybody laughed, as if I was missing something-some sort of joke, you know? And, you answered me anyways. And ever since, you've let me call you Noah," She concluded.

"You seemed so upset when everybody laughed. It wasn't embarrassment. It was as if you were worried that we weren't as close as you thought we were or something like that. So, I told everybody that for you, it was Noah," He explained.

"Why'd it matter? My feelings, that is," She wondered.

"Because we were friends. At the JCC, at least. I don't know what happened that made us such enemies at school, but we were close at the Jewish Community Center and at Temple," He shrugged. "I look out for my friends-I don't like them being upset, you know? Especially fellow Jews," He replied.

"Football," She said softly, blurting the word out. He looked at her, raising an eyebrow at her. "Football happened," She told him looking out the window.

"What's that suppose to mean?" He asked, a little bit of hurt and anger in his voice as he spoke. "What do you mean-football happened? Why is it football's fault?" He asked. It was obvious what he meant. If she blamed football, it meant she was blaming him, and he didn't want to hear that it was his fault that their friendship had turned into a bully's relationship with his number one victim. That would hurt too much.

"It means that you became a football player, and-because of you're talent and skills-you became popular. I didn't, because my talent was in what other students deemed as 'uncool' or 'lame'. I was a dork and you were a football star. It's not anyone's fault, Noah. It's only because of different social circles," She told him.

Puck frowned. He'd originally thought that this arrangement would work perfectly for him, but now he had his doubts. Rachel was too good for him. And he doubted he'd be able to keep her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 4**

"Oh hells no," Santana Lopez said, wiping her glossy, jet black ponytail across her face as she whirled around to face the couple, deemed as Puckleberry, as they entered the school. "Excuse me, but _no-_just _no," _the Latino-now head-Cheerio responded, shaking her head as she stormed towards the football star, residential school bad ass and one of the biggest losers in the entire school.

"What's the problem, Satan?" Puck asked, draping his arm carelessly over Rachel's shoulders, pulling her closer to him as he tightened the grip he had on her.

"Rachel? Rachel freaking Berry?" Santana asked, eyeing the girl. "Tell me she just stole that sweat shirt. Or that it's some sort of bet or something. Anything but that you're actually _with _her. Because then I'd have to lay the beat down on her for messing with my man," Santana glared her dark eyes at them both. This was just _not a_cceptable. None of it made any sense and nothing lined up in her head. Ut was just _wrong. _

"Actually, Santana, Noah and I are dating now," Rachel said, before Puck could think of any form of retaliation. Rachel was done dealing with Santana's bull shit, just because she was an exotic beauty and sexy as sin. Being a cheerleader didn't give her the right to harass and bully other students. "It seems he'd rather be with a girl who's hair is as real as her chest," She smirked. Puck's eyes widened as he fought to hold back a laugh.

Everybody knew about Santana's long hair extensions-those were just obvious. But the annual chest implants were something only a rare few knew about. Rachel only knew because she'd overheard Quinn Fabray say how she couldn't wait to tell Coach Sylvester about Santana's fake rack.

"Why you little _bitch!" _Santana glared, reaching towards Rachel to slap her.

Puck reached out with impossible reflexes and grabbed her wrist, holding it tightly in his hand without hurting her. He was a bad ass, but he wasn't an ass hole. He would never hurt a girl physically.

"Don't even think about touching my girl," Puck growled at her, his voice low and harsh. Even Rachel was a little bit afraid. "If _anybody _has anything negative to say about my relationship with Berry-or about Berry herself, for that matter-they can come and answer to me. Because, in case anybody has failed to notice-she's wearing my name on her sleeve, the same way I'm wearing her proudly on my arm!" Puck announced, pushing Santana away by releasing her wrist and slipping his arm through Rachel's own.

"Puck, think about what-"

"Puckleberry 2.0?" Brittany Pierce spoke up softly, her buttery blonde, curly ponytail shorter than all of the other Cheerio's by a considerate amount as her crystal blue eyes widened with innocence and pure happiness.

"Yeah, Britt-Puckleberry 2.0," Puck smiled at her, grateful for a distraction from all the attention he was getting from his relationship with Rachel. He'd known it would create a stir within the school, but he hadn't expected anything like this. This was showing that with enough time, he and Rachel could take over the now vacant Golden Couple spot of the school.

"Britt's happy about this?" Santana frowned, studying her best friend. "Alright, fine-Puckleberry's back. I guess you two are cuter together than Puck and I...although, I have to admit-I'm going to miss the sex. The sex was amazing. Berry, you're incredibly lucky to be getting that," She said, cracking a smile at Rachel which she returned with a giggle and a blush. Puck panicked slightly, unsure of how Rachel would react.

"I know, right? Although, he has a hard time keeping up with me sometimes," Rachel said, leaning in and winking at Santana confidentially, in a voice so low, it turned Puck on even more than her tiny outfit.

"Oh, damn, girl! I like this side of Yentil-you're coming with Britt and me to the mall tonight. We've gots some shopping to do, bitch," Santana smiled at her. "This is exciting-it's like a new best friend that I can mold however I want! Oh, there's tryouts for the Cheerio's after school today. You should come-there's an open spot, you know?" She smiled as she hooked arms with Brittany and started walking away with her blonde best friend, leaving Puckleberry to stand there in a stunned silence, as the hallway slowly began to thin, realizing that the drama was over.

"Did Santana just-"Rachel began, but Puck cut her off.

"Don't question it. Let's just be happy," He said, squeezing her hand. "After all-that was you're first big test as my girlfriend, and you passed with flying colors," He winked.

"Oh, really now?" Rachel wondered, unhooking her arm from Puck and looking up at him, tilting her head to the side slightly. "When's my second test?" Rachel asked coyly, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. Puck raised his eyebrows at her, frowning in confusion. He never could understand the little diva.

"That's for me to know and you-"He began to tease her, but she cut him off by standing on her tip toes and grabbing his shirt, pulling him close for a long, deep kiss that involved lots of tongue. It beat their prior relationship, and it killed any make-out he'd ever had with Santana. This was the best kiss he'd ever had in his life, if he was being honest, and he was a little shocked that it was from Berry, who'd never actually had a real boyfriend before him.

"Did I pass?" She giggled, when she pulled away. She winked at him before turning around and walking away.

Puck sighed as he watched her go-oh, how he loved to watch her walk away? If there was one thing Puck understood in this school, it was girls. But that Rachel Berry? She was a total mystery to him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 5**

"You and Puckerman?" Rachel jumped back as her locker door was slammed shut, just as she was reaching to remove a textbook from the top shelf. She bit back a scream, not wanting to cause any more attention to herself. She'd been getting stared at, whispered about, and interregated by every other student at these school all day long. All she wanted now was some quiet, peaceful time to herself. But, apparently that wasn't allowed when Noah Puckerman's girlfriend was the victim of all of this gossip. The only time she'd had without questioning peers had been when Santana and Brittany had stood by her side, scaring off anybody who tried to come near her.

She sighed as she turned slightly, looking up at the tall, dopey boy standing besides her, looking down at her. She frowned as she studied him, trying to detect just a little bit of jealousy in his face. But all she could really sense was anger. She frowned as she tilted her head, placing a hand on her chin. She could always play with him-it was always fun to see what it would take to confuse Finn Hudson.

"Do I detect a little jealousy in your voice?" She asked, playfully, a knowing smile on her face. "I mean, that doesn't exactly make sense, does it? After all, you had your fair chance, didn't you?" She wondered.

"I don't understand. Just last week you wanted to be my girlfriend, and now you're sticking your tongue down Puck's throat in the middle of the hallway? I just...I thought you liked me? I never thought you'd be one of those girls who pretty much needed a boyfriend. I really thought you were going to wait-just give me a little bit of time to figure everything out, you know?" He wondered, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion to form that little V that Rachel had always found so cute. Now she just thought it made him look stupid. Which, if she was being fair, he kind of was. After all, he typically didn't understand even the easiest concepts. He even cheated off of Brittany.

"Wait for you? How was I supposed to know you'd come around? Actually, how am I supposed to know that this isn't just because I'm with somebody else?" She asked, her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she glared up at him. "After all, you've barely spoken to me since Sectionals, and now that I'm with Noah, you want me? Sounds a little fishy, doesn't it?" She wondered.

"Do you really think I'd use you like that?" He asked, frowning slightly. "I'm not some sort of jerk, you know," He told her.

"No, but you do hate Noah, don't you? After all, he's the one who slept with Quinn and he's the father of her baby, right? And now he's with me, the stupid little naive girl with the nerve to adore you. He got the loser girl, and you can't. You're jealous, aren't you?" She asked, a dark, wicked smile on her face.

"Rach," Finn sighed, smiling that dopey grin at her. "I'm not like that!" He protested. "Sure, I'm upset about the Puck and Quinn thing-but that doesn't involve you. I really like you," He explained.

"Well, ain't that a shame," Rachel jumped as a heavy, strong arm landed on her shoulder and a new voice joined the conversation. "After all, you really like Rachel, but I do too-and hey, would you look at that? She really likes me too!" Puck said, bright, cheerful sarcasm taking over his voice as he smiled at Finn. It was clear he was messing with his ex-best friend, because he knew of his stupidity, but Finn didn't get it.

"You don't know her. And I wasn't talking to you," Finn said. "I was talking to Rachel," He pointed out.

"Yeah, well, funny thing about that," Puck grinned. "She's my girlfriend, so, therefore, if you're going to talk to her about her relationship or anything to do with a relationship involving her, then I'm going to be involved," He informed Finn.

"She's not your property!" Finn glared, starting to get angry. Rachel stepped back, closer to Puck's warm, comforting embrace. She smiled as his hand slipped to her waist and the other one when came and met it, holding her in a loose hug. He kissed the top of her head and she grinned.

"She's not my property," Puck agreed, nodding easily. "But she's my girlfriend, and that makes her my responsibility. And my pride. And my joy. And the only thing in the world that's stopping me from punching your face in right here and now for hitting on her, because she just so happens to be my girl. And, well, she's my sandwich machine too, but that's another story," He said, grinning down at her and she punched him playfully in the arm.

"When will you get it through your head that she's only with you because she couldn't get me?" Finn challenged.

"Hey, my hot, little Jewish-American princess?" Puck asked, releasing his hold on her. "Do me a favor and go meet Santana and Britt? They're waiting for you for try-outs," He said, his eyes never leaving Finn.

"Bye, baby," Rachel smiled, acting oblivious to the tension between the boys as she lifted herself onto tip toes as she kissed him swiftly on the cheek before bouncing back to her feet and starting away, leaving both boys to stare at her perky little ass as she swayed her hips and disappeared.

"Get your eyes off my girlfriend," Puck glared. "Stop thinking she wants you, because she doesn't. In fact, it was _my _name she was screaming last night. So, do me a favor and get lost and leave Rachel and me alone, alright? Notice that it's _my _name on her shirt? She's into me. She wants me. So do everybody a favor and stop acting like you can get whatever girl in this school you want, because you can't," Puck glared at him before pushing past him and walking away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 6**

Puck was in his truck, listening to music as he waited for Rachel to finish up with her Cheerio's try outs that day after football practice. He had taken off his practice jersey and hung in his gym locker with his cleats and other football stuff and was wearing his low sling, baggy, faded jeans low on his lips with a form fitting, grey wife-beater tank top and Converse, his shirt from earlier in the day lying on the floor of his truck after having been used to wipe the sweat from his face during practice, before his post-practice shower. His mohawk, luckily, never looked anyything more than perfect, due to its short cut, so it was just wet, dripping when he shook his head and splattering in the car with water.

"I don't want you dating her," He jumped as the door to his truck opened and a rather blonde haired girl crawled into the seat next to him in a short, white halter dress, a cold glare formed by her green-blue eyes. "And you can't say it's none of my business, because she'll be in my child's life, and I don't want her in it, even if I'm not keeping it. It could cause me stress which would be bad for the baby, and then what am I going to do with it?" she asked, her tanned arms crossed over her well developed chest.

In all aspects, Quinn Fabray was beautiful. She had a lovely, symmetrical face and a hot body that turned heads. But Puck knew from experience that on the inside, she was nothing more than hideous. He couldn't even remember why he'd wanted to sleep with her so badly in the first place.

And then Finn Hudson walked out of the building and he remembered. It had been pure jealousy and had all taken place an after party, between two drunk, hot sophomores after a terrible defeat for the football team, mostly due to Finn's ball hogging attitude. Puck rolled his eyes as he remembered that night and the terrible hang over that had happened because of it. And the night of his hangover had been the first time he'd ever had a dream about Rachel Berry. That had been the night he'd decided that they, as two rather attractice Jewish teenagers, would make a lovely pair. He sighed as he turned towards Quinn and crossed his arms at her, smirking as her eyebrows arched when she saw them.

It was always nice to get a positive response because of his "guns", but it really didn't do much more than make him arrogant and cocky now, when from a large population of females of McKinley. In fact, it was typically Rachel's sweet, random little comments about his arms that made him smile and brush, shaking his head as if to shake the compliment away.

"You know what, Quinn? I let you decide that _we _didn't want to keep our baby. I let _you _throw me from your life and the baby's life. I even let you tell people that Finn was the father, when nobody really believed you. And I'm sick of it. You're not telling me that I can't be with Rachel because _you _don't like it. In fact, nobody's telling me that I can't be with her. I want to be with her and, in case you've forgotten, I'm Noah Puckerman-Puck, to you and the rest of these losers-and nobody tells me what to do. I do what I want and I don't give a shit about what anybody thinks," He said, bitterly.

"You want to keep the baby? You think Rachel wants a baby in her sophomore year of high school? Because I'm not helping you raise it. No, she's meant for bigger things than Lima, and you know it. And having a baby? It's gonna give her a reason to drop you, just like I did, and for the same reasons," Quinn told him, a cruel glint to her eyes. "Finn knows it. I know it. Everybody in the school knows it, except for Rachel-actually, I bet she knows it. I bet she's dating you out of pity. She doesn't really care about you. Nobody does. And you know why? It's because you're a Lima Loser and you always have been. And you always will be. You're a loser, just like you're dead beat father was," She told him.

Puck glared. Quinn could insult his wants to keep their child-his baby. She could tell him what he already knew by saying he wasn't good enough for Rachel. She could rub it in that his best friend thought he was a loser. She could point out that Rachel would drop him in a second if she knew what he wanted. He'd even let her call him a Lima Loser, but the one thing he wouldn't allow her to do, was compare him to his own father.

"You know why I'm not like my dad?" Puck asked her softly. "Because unlike him, I wanted to stay with you. I wanted to help raise her. You're the one giving her up," Puck said. He wasn't sure about the sex of the baby, but he wanted to believe it was a girl. Actually, a part of him said that it was going to be a girl. And he'd rather refer to it by the wrong sex than continue to call it an it, as if it were an unwanted creature that didn't have an actual sex or species. No, he'd rather call his baby a she, even if she turned out to be a boy, than refer to her as an it.

"Is Rachel your new sex buddy then? Just a way to help get over everything, and once again show Finn that you can take anything from him, no matter how badly he wants it?" Quinn wondered, turning to face him with a sly, knowing grin on her face.

Puck realized then that the straight A, high honor roll, ex-head Cheerleader was much more than a dumb blonde. She was smarter than she seemed. She understood just what she'd been to Puck, but rather than getting angry at him, she chose to torture him instead, making him believe that she knew it, but never saying it straight out, knowing that one day he would apologize to her for it, because he wasn't really a jerk. He was a gentleman at heart, no matter what any girls at McKinley claimed.

"Don't call her that. Don't make her seem like a slut, because she isn't. She's my girlfriend-no matter what we may or may not be doing or how the arrangment began, alright? Never refer to her as anything as demeaning as what Santana called herself. Rachel's not a slut, alright?" Puck whispered.

"You love her" Quinn said softly and slowly.

"Shut up!" Puck said sternly. He would never yell at a girl, but scolding one was perfectly acceptable, especially in a situation like this one. Puck had been raised by a classic old Jewish woman who wanted her son to respect women, unlike his father had. And that was a large part of the reason of why Puck despised his father so much. His dad never came around. He barely gave his mother any money. And he had completely ignored his sister's Bat Mitzvah-not that it had happened yet, as her birthday was in a month. But he'd yet to ask what he could do to help. As of right now, his sweet little sister, Raquel, was not going to have one of the biggest, most important parties that a Jewish could would ever have in her life. "I don't do love," He muttered, shaking his head.

"You do!" Quinn accused. "It's alright. I understand that-she's pretty, you know? And she's always been nice to me, no matter how big of a bitch I can be to her. She blames it all on my hormones, if you can believe that," She giggled simply. "And she's so talented. That's why Finn fell for her, you know? Her voice...it just pulls you in, doesn't it? That's how he described it, I mean," She shrugged.

"I don't fall in love," Puck insisted.

"It's okay to love her, you know." Quinn said softly as she opened the door to his truck and slid out, just as the Cheerios were released from the gym, a gaggling group of giggling girls with their hair pulled up high. Some of there girls weren't wearing the standard practice wardrobe, and those were the ones in tears. Puck had to fight an urge to watch for Rachel, because if she was crying and he saw before she entered the car, it would be expected of him to speed away, because he wasn't supposed to handle tears. Yet, he knew that if Rachel was crying, he'd have to stay and comfort her, because he wouldn't be able to react in any other way.

He sighed as Santana, Brittany, and Rachel appeared by his truck, all giggling with their hair in high ponytails that looked inbelievably tight. They all wore short, red and white shorts with a fitted white tank top with red writing on it. He grinned at Rachel as she opened the door and lifted herself in, saying goodbye to the girls and promising she'd meet them at the mall after she went home and showered and got changed. The two Cheerio's nodded and hurried off, still giggling.

"What did Quinn want?" Rachel asked pleasantly and Puck shifted the gears of his truck.

"She just wanted to talk..."Puck said, not looking at her as he started to pull out of the school's parking lot and onto the main street. Rachel studied him carefully, waiting for his next statement. Nothing came.

"You still love her," Rachel said simply. "That's understandable, actually," Rachel nodde. "She's beautiful, right? Everybody thinks so...and she can be really nice, when you give her a chance and actually try and get to know her. At least, I've seen those moments, every once and a while when her bitchy shield starts to falter and fail. And she's got a lovely voice, as well as lovely dance moves. I mean, she was an incredible Cheerio and she's a great addition to the Glee club, isn't she? Yes, I really can't blame you and Finn for loving her so much," Rachel said.

Her voice was sincere; honest and sweet. Puck could sense a little bit of sadness, but he wasn't sure if that was due to his wanting of that to be true, or the fact that it actually was true. Rachel, unlike Quinn, didn't have any bitterness to her voice when she spoke of Puck's love for the girl. Actually, despite the similarities to the conversations he'd had with the two girls, they were completely different.

One was honest, sincere-and real. The other was cruel, bitter, and jealous, with only a little bit of sweetness to it. One had been a complete and utter assumption, not being true in the slightest way. And the other? It had been one hundred percent true.

"What's so funny?" Rachel asked as he pulled onto her street. He hadn't even realized he'd been chuckling.

"What you just said? It's so similar to something Quinn said about you when she was talking to me...but, despite the words being the same? Well, they were completely different," He shrugged. Rachel frowned at him in confusion as he pulled into her driveway and parked the cars. "Well? Are you going to need a ride to the mall, because I'll wait here if you want," He offered.

"Noah," Rachel said. "If you love Quinn...we don't have to do this," She told him. "You deserve to be happy, just as I do-and, well, just like everybody else. So, if being with Quinn will make you happy, so be it," She shrugged.

"I don't want to stop this," Puck frowned. "And I don't think the rest of the school would like us very much if we stopped," He laughed, trying to ease the tension.

"What are you talking about Noah? I broke up the power couple by telling Finn that you slept with Quinn and were the father of the baby." She giggled. "I don't think that many people want us together, especially when they believe it would make us happy." She pointed out. He ignored her words as he took out his phone and logged onto his facebook.

"Check this out, alright? And then tell me that people don't want us to be happy. I'm pretty sure all they care about is getting a new couple to watch for drama and their own entertainment. And I do believe we fit the bill," He smiled as he passed her the phone.

**Noah Puckerman is in a relationship with **_Rachel Berry  
_**Santana Lopez, Brittany .S. Pierce, Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones and 54 other people like this**

**Santana Lopez: bout time you made a relationship facebook official, Puckerman!**  
**Brittany .S. Pierce: Puckleberry 2.0? YAY!**  
**Finn Hudson: She's gonna dump ur sorry ass&come running bac 2 me**  
**Quinn Fabray: Get over it Finn-you had ur chance. U blew it**  
**Kurt Hummel: I, for one, just happen to be happy that my diva's happy  
Mercedes Jones: Oh, yeah sure ^^^ But I'm so glad we've got a new Power Couple-and that its a Glee couple!  
Matthew Rutherford: Is everything a popularity boosting experience for you Mer?  
Mike Chang: Puckerman's got a girl and made it FB official...I think we've got a new power couple in the lining!  
Tina Cohen-Chang: I will seriously cry if you guys break up. Because then Rachel's gonna be all sad and that could affect her voice-LOL  
Artie Abrams: More solo opportunities, Tina ^^^ But, really, Puckerman-stay with her. She's good for you  
Kurt Hummel: Have any of you been slushied today?  
Mercedes Jones, Tina Cohen-Chang and five others like this comment  
Kurt Hummel: Thought so!  
Mercedes Jones: Puckerman's defending the Glee kids?  
Artie Abrams: And pretty much every other loser in this school  
Santana Lopez: Tina that was a low blow-Rach's my girl and nobody messes with her.  
Kurt Hummel and Brittany .S. Pierce like this comment  
Tina Cohen-Chang: I was just kidding, Santana!  
Santana Lopez: I thought so, but I couldn't be too sure. I look out for by girls  
Finn Hudson: Puck's gonna break her heart and she's gonna quit Glee and leave us all to die  
Noah Puckerman: I break her heart and I'll be the one quitting Glee! None of you guys will talk to me anymore!  
Santana Lopez, Brittany .S. Pierce, Kurt Hummel and six others like this  
Kurt Hummel: Puckleberry's gonna last.**

"There's about a hundred more comments," Puck told her as she handed the phone back to him.

"Do you want to be with me?" Rachel asked.

"Of course I do, Rach," Puck frowned.

"I mean really-not because of sex or popularity. Just to be with me," She wondered.

"I really do, Rach-and I've never said to any other girl before. Even as a lie," He joked.

"You're not good with emotions, are you?" She asked him.

"Nope," He admitted easily enough.

"We'll work on that," She nodded.

"So, you want a ride to the mall?" He asked her with a small smile.

"Yeah, just let me go shower," She nodded.

"Wait-before you go, can you just read Brittany's comments, right after Kurt?" He asked, handing her the phone again.

"Why?" She wondered as she took the phone and scrolled down.

**Brittany.S. Pierce: Pucklberry's going to last forever and soon there will be little Puckleberries running all around!  
Brittany .S. Pierce: With big mouths and mohawks!  
Santana Lopez likes this comment**

She couldn't help but giggle as she read that. It was such a typical Brittany thing to say, that she couldn't help but want to burst out into hysterical laughter and give Brittany her own sarcastic, witty response to it. She handed Puck the phone back and grinned.

"See? They even want us to start making little Jewish babies," Puck informed her with a sly grin as he accepted the phone. "I vote that we start now!" He grinned at her.

"You do?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him as she peered over her shoulder, her hands resting on the door knob of the truck. She twisted down and slid from the truck, turning back around to face him. "Well? Do you?" She asked him.

"Duh!" He grinned at her with a wide smile on his face. He was slightly shocked at her behavior, but he was also excited for it.

"Well..."She said, twirling a loose strand of hair around her finger as she closed the truck door and slowly made her way towards his side of the truck. She opened it and grinned up at him.

"Yeah?" He gulped, slowly getting entranced by Rachel's new found confidence and utter sexiness.

"How bad do you want to?" She asked him, giving him that look she'd perfected for looking completely irrestible to every single male on the planet. "Tell me how bad, Noah," She said softly, her voice a low whisper that was just too sexy.

"A lot," He managed to get out as he placed his hands in his lap to hide from her just how much he wanted it.

"Well, then come on," She winked, grabbing his hand and tugging him from the truck. "I told you I've got to take a shower, didn't I?" She giggled as she started walking towards her house, glancing over her shoulder at him.

Puck froze as he stared at her in complete and utter shock-and excitement. He was going to take Rachel's V-card. And he didn't even have to admit he loved her.

"Are you coming Noah?" She asked, unlocking her front door. He nodded and hurried towards her. "Good," She smiled. "There's just one tiny little condition, okay?" SHe told him as they entered the house. "You've gotta tell me if you love me, first," She smirked as she started towards her bedroom.

Puck stood there in the doorway in complete shock. Rachel Berry sure knew how to get what she wanted.


	7. Chapter 7

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 7**

"Berry," Puck said, finally regaining the cool he'd lost with Rachel's words. "I'd run if you I were, because that was not very nice," He said with a confident smirk as he strarted running towards her. She took off down the hallway, laughter filling the air as she tried to out run the strong, football player who's legs were twice as long as hers. She should have known that it was a useless attempt, but she couldn't bring herself to give up. After all, that just wasn't how Rachel Berry worked. As soon as she reached her room, he lunged towards her, tackling her down to her bed as he tickled her.

"NOAH!" She giggled. "Stop it," She laughed, a large smile taking over her face. "Come on, please? My phone's going on," She pleaded as she fought to release her arms from his grasp. Instead, he smirked at her and reached towards the neckline of her shirt, sticking his hand inside and pulling out her phone as he unlocked it and answered quickly.

"Whaddya want Satan? You're wrecking the mood here," He complained as he put a hand over Rachel's mouth to keep her quiet, so her protests of freedom didn't inturrupt his conversation with Santana. Of course, Rachel's laughter might just break his hold as well.

"What time's she coming to the mall?" Santana asked. "'Cause Britt and I are all ready so we're just-"

"Oh, sorry, but Rach can't make it tonight," Puck said. "SHe's kind of busy. But, hey, how about you buy her some stuff and I'll pay you back for it later? You should know her size and all, right? Girls know that shit, don't they?" He laughed. "Great! Alright, see you later-and Rachel says goodbye too, but she's a little busy so she can't exactly talk right now...what's that? No, Rachel's a good girl! She would _never _give me a blow job...on the second day of our relationship," He smirked at her as he hung up her phone and tossed it gently aside. "Now...where were we?" He asked her, grinning down at her.

"I wanted to go to the mall," She pouted up at him. "It was going to be fun to have some girl time," She said, sticking her bottom lip out. He grinned at her as he leaned down and kissed her. A long, slow, simple kiss that would make most girls swoon. But Rachel held onto her pout firmly.

"Come on Rach, I just wanted you to myself for a little while," He sighed. "I mean, now that you're officially my _girlfriend _and not just some kind of sex pal," He grinned at her. Her glare softened and her lips began to curl upwards, as if about to form a smile. "And you're just so hot in those tiny little shorts that I can't resist you," He went on, leaning down and kissing her again.

"Alright," She rolled her eyes. "You're forgiven, alright? But can you do me a favor and get up? I really would like to shower," She smiled up at him.

"Oh, yeah, sure-let's go!" He smiled, rolling over and shooting upright.

"Noah," She frowned as she stared at him. "You don't get to come with me," She said sweetly, with a smale smile on her face as she studied his hopeful expression.

"Why not?" He asked her, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting, trying his very best to act like a little kid, hoping that she wouldn't be able to refuse such an adorable, sweet little thing that was so innocent.

"Because it's not appropriate, alright?" She shook his head as she stood up and started walking towards her bathroom attached to her room. She shut the door behind her and he could hear the soft click telling him that she'd locked him out.

"YOU OWE ME!" He shouted at her as he stood up and started walking towards her book sheld which was covered with books full of sheet music, pictures, and long novels-most of which have some sort of musical based off of them. He noticed that _Wicked _was the most tattered book on the shelf. He slowly reached for a photo album and returned to her bed, slowly flipping through it.

The album was full of pictures from her Bat Mitzvah, and he was once again reminded of the social difference between the two of the economically. It was like a reverse of Cinderella and her prince, or _The Prince and The Pauper. _Or perhaps _Titanic _would be a better match for the couple. The only difference would be that neither of them would die. Sure, Puck would surrender his own life for her anyday-he was admitting, at least in his mind, that he loved her-but he would never allow anybody else the chance to be with her. He would cling onto his last breath for as long as it took to revive himself into a living person again, just so that he could always be Rachel's one and only guy.

He was still flipping through the album when Rachel came walking out in a pair of short, plaid shorts with a tank top, her wet hair in a high ponytail once more. She sat down besides him and kissed his cheek.

"What are you doing?" She wondered, snuggling closer to him as he wrapped an arm around her and leaned back, allowing to to rest her head on his chest. She slowly ran her fingers up and down his arm and closed her eyes in content.

"Looking at the pictures from your Bat Mitzvah. Remember what I did when Jacob tried to kiss you?" He asked her with a soft smile on his face.

"Didn't you punch him? And when my dad told you that violence was never the answer, you said that-"She began but he cut her off with a broad grin as he remembered his gallant way of jumping in to save the thirteen year old girl.

"It was when the question was the best way to bash in that Jacob kid's face," He chuckled.

"You were always looking out for me, in those subtle, cute kind of ways," She observed as she continued to stroke his arm. "Isn't Raquel's Bat Mitzvah coming up? I haven't seen her in ages," Rachel sighed.

"I don't think she's having one..."Puck whispered.

"Why not?" Rachel frowned.

"Mom can't exactly afford one...and dad's not helping her-"

"Can I throw it for her?" Rachel asked him, a bright smile on her face. "Oh, please? I love planning parties, and with my Bat Mitvah and my sweet sixteen done, I don't have any reason for it until, like, graduation. Please?" She asked, a puppy dog pout forming on her face.

"Rach...I can't ask you to-what's wrong?" He asked as she instantly tensed up at the nickname.

"You don't call me Rach-ever. Please...Finn called me that. You're not supposed to, just like I'm not supposed to call you Puck," She explained to him, her voice sounding hollow.

"Berry, then?" He asked.

"Berry." She agreed. "So, can I plan the party?" She asked.

"I can't ask you to do that," He shook his head. "My mom would hate it if you did that-she'd be so embarassed, especially with all the help your dads already give her and everything," He protested.

"You're not asking me-I'm offering. And I will _beg _your mother to let me. But I won't have to, because Yetti loves me," She smirked happily.

"Everybody loves you," Puck grumbled. "That's an unfair advantage you have over everybody, you know?" He whispered into her hair.

"You love me?" She asked cheerfully.

"I said everybody loves you!" He exclaimed.

"Why can't you say it?" She asked him.

"Why can't you?" He shot back.

"I, Rachel Barbra Berry, am madly in love with Noah James Puckerman, alias, Puck, to everybody except for _me _because I happen to be special," She said boldly. "Okay, you're turn!" She said brightly.

"If I tell you now, it's not special," He shook his head.

"But you do?" She asked.

"Of course I do," He nodded.

"How long?" She wondered.

"I can't even remember..."He shook his head. That was a lie, of course. It had all started the day she'd called him Noah for the first time after he'd gotten his nickname. He hadn't even thought to correct her. It had sounded natural to him. And when Jacob and all the other kids at the JCC tried to call him Noah, he corrected them. It seemed like only the women he loved should be permitted to call him that, and for some reason, Rachel made the cut.

"I've loved you since you punched Jacob," She told him happily. "I didn't think you'd ever want to be with me though...especially once high school started. So I sort of moved on-or, I tried to. Nothing really worked until I heard Finn Hudson sing. I've always had a thing for guys with good voices," She teased him.

"You're a bitch," He told her, shaking his as he remembered singing her _Rachel's Song _for her Bat Mitzvah.

"You're a man whore," She shot back. He loved it when she swore. It was so odd coming from her mouth, and it was rather sexy.

"Tease," He informed her.

"Walking STD," She stuck her tongue out.

"Well then!" Puck said, pushing her away and standing up. "Clearly I'm not wanted here!" He teased her as he began to walk away.

"NOAH! NO!" She whimpered, lunging towards his back and throwing her arms around his neck. He reached back around and swung her into his arms, bridal style.

"You didn't wear your knee socks today," He pouted. "Or one of those sexy little skirts," He sighed.

"I wanted everybody to know I was your girlfriend," She smiled at him.

"Oh, believe me sweet heart, after what happened between Finn and I, everybody knows that," He promised her.

"And Santana and me," She added cheerfully.

"So, do you have to wear that tiny little Cheerio uniform tomorrow?" He asked, eyeing the uniform that hung on the knob into her closet.

"You'll know when the rest of the school does," She teased him.

"Dammit," He swore as he dropped her onto the bed and fell down besides her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 8  
A/N: CONTEST TIME! Anybody know the name of Mark Salling's (Puck) dog?**

Puck's eyes widened as Rachel Berry made her way out of her house wearing that short little red and white pleated skirt with the form fitting vest over it. Her hair was pulled up into the custom high ponytail of all Cheerios and she wore starch white Nikes on her feet. She had a red and white gym bag tossed over her shoulder and she was slowly making her way to the truck. When she got in the crossed her arms over her chest and tugged at her skirt self cconsciously.

"What?" She asked, turning and looking at him with slight anger.

"You look beautiful," He told her, his voice a soft whisper as he spoke something that was the exact opposite of a Puckerman line.

"You mean I look hot? Or sexy? Or whatever it is you guys say about the cheerleaders. I just want to go change. I can't believe I let Santana convince me to do this," She shook her head.

"Don't change. You look absolutely beautiful, Berry," Puck said. "Any girl can be hot, okay? That's a word guys carelessly throw around. But when they call you beautiful, it's because you really are, alright?" He told her.

"Okay," She nodded. "But can you do me a favor?" She wondered.

"What's that?" He asked, pulling out of her driveway and heading towards the school.

"Protect me from the big, bad pervs?" She asked.

"Baby, they won't even be looking at you. They know better than to check out my girl," He shook his head. "No matter how badly they might want to stare at you..."He said, sneaking a little peak at her. "By the way, can I have that shower tonight?" He asked hopefilly.

"No!" She giggled.

"When?" He pouted.

"When you tell me you love me," She stuck her tongue out.

"You drive a hard bargain," He shook his head.

* * *

"That guy definitely just broke up with his girlfriend to stare at Rachel," Puck glared during lunch as Rachel made her way towards him, Mike Chang, and Matt Rutherford, with Santana and Brittany at her sides. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all," Puck shook his head as he began to take off his jacket. "She's wearing this. All day. For the rest of the year. Until she doesn't have to wear that uniform anymore," He decided.

"Dude, calm down," Mike laughed, shaking his head.

"I don't understand..."Matt frowned. "She's so short...how are her legs so long?" He asked, tilting his head slightly as his eyes focused on Rachel. "It just doesn't make any-OW!" He said, rubbing his head.

"Don't freaking stare at my girl! She's _mine!" _Puck growled as he punched Matt on the arm, giving him any injury to match the thump he'd just gotten to the back of his head. "All mine, all the time-and nobody else can have her." He said, his voice getting louder as he spoke. He stood up and turned around, facing the rest of the cafetaria. "YO! LOSERS!" He shouted. All attention was on him. "RACHEL BERRY IS MY GIRLFRIEND-YEAH, YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT, SO KEEP YOUR EYES OFF OF HER-BECAUSE SHE'S MINE! AND I LOVE HER! YOU HEAR THAT, BERRY? I LOVE YOU!" He announced, shouting it out for the entire cafetaria to hear, shocking everybody around him as he sat back down to face his friends.

"The mighty Noah Puckerman is in love," Santana drawled as she plopped down in a chair across from Matt, her new obsession. Brittany took a seat across from Mike, who was the one who put a sparkle to her eyes, and a blushing Rachel sat down between the girls, refusing to make eye contact with Puck. "And he humilated the girl," She teased him.

"I'm not embarrassed," Rachel insisted.

"Yes, you most definitely are. But it's okay, because while that was the cutest thing Noah's ever done in his life, it was also the-"Santana began and she froze, cutting herself off as her eyes widened.

"Did you just call him Noah?" Rachel asked, turning towards her newest best friend. Puck's head rose and his eyes locked on his ex-flame while the two boys gulped, waiting for the blow out that was sure to happen between at least two thirds of the trio. Even Brittany looked shocked, and it was a wonder she understood just what had happened between the bad ass, the latino, and the star.

"Well, that's how Rachel always talks about you-I was sure to slip up at one point or another," Santana shrugged it off, reaching for her water bottle and taking a sip. "What? Do you expect me to apologize or something? Because, honestly, if I was jealous or wanted Puck back, I could think of better ways to do that than trying on Berry's nickname for him. We all know he loves her and that's the only reason she gets away with it anyways, right?" She asked, looking from face to face at the table in confusion. She couldn't understand just what the big deal was.

"It's just...it's a special name Rachel can call me...nobody else, because then it ain't special anymore," Puck shrugged.

"Because you love her?" Brittany asked brightly. "And soon there's gonna be lots of little Puckleberry juniors running all around?" she shrugged as she dug into her salad. "What?" She mumbled through a mouthful of lettuce.

"I second that one, personally. Stop Quinn from thinking she's all special and the shit because she got pregnant by Puckerman," Santana spoke up. "And it'll make Finn realize that she doesn't want anything to do with him anymore because for her, it's all Puckleberry-which is a way cooler name than Finchel, by the way," She shrugged. "Anyone else?" SHe asked.

"See, Berry? Everybody wants us to start with the making of our little Jewish babies!" Puck whined.

"Yeah, when are you guys gonna start?" Matt laughed, teasing the couple and making Rachel blush as she lowered her head towards the veggie burger located on her tray and focused on her water.

"I vote for right now!" Puck announced.

"Don't listen to them legs-there's nothing wrong with being a virgin," Mike spoke up. "I'm one too, and I don't think I was ever considered some sort of loser, was I? I'm probably the one glee club member who never got slushied," He added.

"You've never been slushied?" Santana asked, whirling around to focus on the boy. Rachel sighed in relief, glad the attention was away from her.

"Hold up," Puck said, holding a palm up as he turned towards Mike. "What did you just call her?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"Legs?" Mike frowned.

"Don't call her such a sexist-"

"Noah?" Rachel spoke up, instantly shutting him up. "Mike can call me that, it's alright." She giggled. "By the way, I made you some ninja cookies last night, after Puck left," She said, reaching for her bag and pulling out a container of cookies cut out into adorable little shapes and carefully designed to resemble ninjas.

"What the hell," Puck snapped, standing up and storming away.

"Jealous mofo, isn't he?" Santana observed as he walked away.

"What did I do wrong?" Rachel frowned.

"Ray, are you sad now?" Brittany asked.

"You made some other dude cookies," Santana said.

"And let him call you 'legs'," Matt replied.

"In Puck's eyes, it means you like me," Mike rolled his eyes.

"And that makes him jealous because he knows that right now, you're the new hot cheerleader," Santana explained.

"And you're really good looking, so all the boys like you," Brittany said innocently.

"He's jealous of _Mike_ because I made him _cookies?" _Rachel asked.

"Why did you make him cookies?" Santana asked.

"He's upset because Tina and Artie are dating," Rachel answered.

"You like Tina?" Matt asked.

"Is it because you're both Asian?" Brittany wondered.

"That is incredibly racist," Mike glared.

"But true," Rachel shrugged.

"Shut up," Mike laughed.

* * *

Rachel entered the choir room and approached Puck, placing herself right on his knee, as she always did when he was upset.

"What? Isn't Mike waiting for you or something?" He asked bitterly.

"I made him the cookies because he's really upset," Rachel said, not letting his angry words bother her.

"About what? That you're dating me?" Puck rolled his eyes.

"Because Artie and Tina are dating," Rachel explained.

"Since when does he likes Tina?" Puck asked, leaning his head back.

"Since he joined Glee," Rachel shrugged.

"How come you know and not me?" He wondered.

"Because I pay attention to people and figured it out," She shrugged.

"Do you hate me now?" He asked.

"No," She shook her head.

"I would," He told her.

"You always forgive your first love," She told him.

"So-Ninja cookies?" he asked, looking up at her.

"What about them?" She wondered.

"They sound pretty bad-ass..."He shrugged.

"They are," She smiled.

"When can I have some?" He asked.

"It might take me longer for yours," She frowned.

"Why?" He asked.

"I need to give them mohawks," She grinned.

"And num chucks, because those are bad ass," He nodded seriously.

"How about a grape slushy?" She smiled, biting her bottom lip.

"That one works too," He grinned, pulling her close and kissing her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 9  
_A/N: Shout out to Mark. and BiggestGleekForeva-Puck's girl, for knowing that Mark's dog's name is Noah. Extra big shout out to Cerena Habbouche for knowing that Lea Michele helped him name him. You guys are incredible Puckleberry fans, and BiggestGleekForeva always leaves me the longest, most heartfelt reviews on my updates, so thanks for that and keep it up-you're amazing!  
Next contest trivia? What did Puck say to Finn when Finn was asking him about safe sex in the locker room during season 3, episode: First Time? _**

"Can I ask her _now?" _Rachel pleaded with Puck as they sat in his truck, outside of his house. They were going to be babysitting for Raquel-a surprise for Puck's little sister, who idolized Rachel Berry, because his mother was taking up an extra shift that night. Rachel's fathers had agreed to let Rachel spend the night there-they honestly were okay with anything she did involving Puck, because they preferred him to that 'dopey looking giant' Finn any day. After all, Puck was a respectable, Jewish gentleman and that was exactly what they wanted for their daughter-somebody who respected his woman.

"She has to go to work, do we really have to stress her out?" Puck frowned, running a hand through his mohawk as he studied the beautiful girl before him. She was wearing a pair of jeans, something that was unusual for her ensemble, with a long, baggy grey sweater with a hood attached to and UGG boots. Puck had never seen a more attractive girl sitting in his passengers seat before.

"It's not going to stress her out!" Rachel protested. "Please, let me ask her now?" She begged.

"Why is this so important to you anyways?" Puck sighed. It was Wednesday night and Puck was still feeling a little bad about his jealous rage earlier in the day, so he was clearly going to give her whatever she wanted. She just didn't know that.

"Every Jewish girl deserves to have her Bat Mitzvah. It's an important part of the tradition of our heritage, alright? I just don't want her missing out because your father is an idiot who clearly doesn't give a shit about his religion. He may not want to respect and practice it, but that doesn't give the ass a right to take that right away from your sister. So, please let me talk to Yetti now so I can make everything work?" Rachel said.

Puck was so amazed by her swearing and insulting his father that he nodded, agreeing with her before he knew what he was doing. He only snapped back into reality as she threw open her car door and skipped out, heading towards his tiny little house and entering it.

"Hey Yetti!" She smiled at his mother. Even though she was only in her late thirties, she looked like she was well into her fifties with her graying, short hair and tired looking features. Yet she was the mother figure Rachel had always longed to have in her life. Rachel had always been a typical guest at the Puckerman residence. "I was talking to Noah and I got the greatest idea! I was telling him I would _love t_o throw Raquel her Bat Mitzvah-my dads planned mine for me, and while it was incredible, I never got the experience of planning it myself and I would love to plan it with Raquel-and, if you'd let me, I'd love to pay for it all as well," She said brightly.

"Rachel, did Noah tell you about our financial troubles," Yetti frowned at her son as he entered the kitchen.

"Nope-Noah actually argued me about this idea, saying that you'd feel insulted or something, but I knew you'd understand that I want to do this as a sign of thank you for all you've done for me," She explained. "You were like a mother to me, and since all I had were my two dads, I really needed that figure. And I was lucky I had you," She grinned.

"I always liked you more than that Quinn girl," Yetti smiled, nodding at Rachel. "Is she your girlfriend yet, Noah?" She said, turning her attention to her son.

"Yeah, mom, she is," Puck smiled that little boy smile he only had around his mother. And Rachel. At McKInley, they called it his "Rachel Smile" and it typically matched his "Rachel Look". With Yetti though, it was paired with a slight blush as he lowered his head to avoid the gaze of the people around him. "She's been my friend, for a few days now," He explained in a low whisper. Yetti smiled brightly as she approached Rachel to hug her.

"Don't mess this up, Noah-I like her," Yetti warned as she turned her attention back to Rachel. "I'll let you plan the party, but I do wish you'd allow me help you pay for it," She offered. "I don't like you doing everything on your own for my daughter's Bat Mitzvah," She shook her head.

"Well, I was actually hoping that maybe you could bake the desserts for us...it's so annoying getting that kind of stuff catered and it would save lots of money," Rachel said.

Puck was impressed. It was clear Rachel had already begun giving this a lot of thought. He made a mental note to add that to the long, ever growing list of things he loved and adored about Rachel Berry. The list would probably never end, because he was constantly adding things to it, and he could never bring himself to take something off of it, because he just loved everything about her. To him, she was perfect.

"Alright, Rachel-just let me know what you want, alright? Noah, I'll be home later and I expect you to _not _be creeping back to the living room to sleep when I pull in the driveway, alright?" Yetti told her son. She was scolding him, but she was teasing him at the same time. Rachel admired how Yetti could be a strict mother but a cool friend at the same time. She could only imagine how hard it was to play the father figure to her two children as well as the mother while supporting them as best as she could, all by herself. As much as she hoped she'd never be in Yetti's situation, she hoped that one day she'd be as strong and independent as her.

"Alright-I'll just stay in Rachel's room," He shrugged, grinning at his mother.

"He'll be the death of me-he's got an answer for everything," Yetti sighed as she bid her goodbyes to the teenagers and exited the house, heading off towards work.

"Now, where does that leave us?" Puck asked with a smirk as he approached Rachel who was leaning against the counter in the small kitchen area. "Oh, that's right, I'm pretty sure we should be right...around...here," He grinned as he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her close.

"We're supposed to be watching Raquel," Rachel reminded him as he placed his lips on hers.

"What's that? I can't understand you," He mumbled back at her.

"I hate you," She sighed.

"Love you, too," He whispered.


	10. Chapter 10

**Friends with Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 10  
A/N: Shout out to Louise for knowing that Puck told Finn that he'd always thought it would be him (to be her first) in the locker room in every Puckleberry fans' least favorite Glee episode. BTW: It's almost 2am where I am, so if this chapter is kinda pointless, don't hate me, but I wanted to update one more time before I went to sleep.  
Trivia For next chapter? What did Puck do at the train station when Rachel was leaving? **

"Noah, stop it!" Rachel giggled as Puck kissed her neck, his tongue tracing small circles as he cuddled next to her in his bed later that night, hours after Raquel had fallen asleep. Rachel typically slept in Puck's room when she slept over, putting him on the couch downstairs. But, since his mother wasn't home yet, at ten thirty at night, nothing was stopping them from cuddling together and enjoying one another's company.

"What's that?" He mumbled as he pulled her closer, biting her neck gently and loving the moan she released. "I don't think you meant that," He responded.

"Seriously, Noah-your mom gets out of work at midnight, and I really don't want her to catch us if she somehow gets out early," She protested. But she knew as well as he did that her fight wasn't going to last very long. She was enjoying his sweet kisses just as much as he was enjoying giving them to her. "Do you love me, Noah?" She blurted suddenly and all of the kisses stopped as he pushed away from her and sat up, propping up on an elbow to stare at her, a shocked and confused look flooding his face as she lowered her head to avoid looking at him.

"What sort of question is that?" He asked. "I announced it to everybody at lunch, didn't I?" He asked. "I've told you how many times today? Why would you ask me that?" He frowned.

"I just...why do you love me? Because I told you I'd sleep with you if you did? Because I want to be sure you really love me if I'm going to give myself to you," she explained.

"Berry, I could write you a list of all the reasons I loved you. But I'd probably run out of paper," He told her.

"Really?" She wondered.

"Listen, how about I make a list of my top ten favorite things about you? Will that make you happy?" He asked. "Will that prove my love?" he teased her, kissing her on the cheek.

"Yes," She whispered sheepishly.

"Alright," He nodded as he took a notebook from the bedside table besides his twin bed and grabbed a pen, starting to write. "No peeking!" He protested, pushing her away.

* * *

It was about half an hour later when Puck handed her the notebook with a proud smirk.

"What took so long?" She teased.

"There's a hell of a lot more than ten things on that list," He grinned.

"Let me read it," She sighed, taking it from him and lying in his arms as she began to read.

**_Why I Love Rachel Berry  
1)Those short little skirts she wears...and with those knee socks? It's like all of my school-girl fantasies are coming true in one beautifully, sexy package.  
2)Her intelligence-smarts can be sexy, you know?  
3)The way that her legs seem to be endless, despite her shortness. Even Matt noticed that today...  
4)How every guy in school stops and checks her out...but she doesn't even notice  
5)How self conscious she is. She doesn't even realize how beautiful and attractive she is.  
6)The fact that she's a good girl with some very bad habits  
7)How she kisses...yeah, I could go on with that for pages and pages...  
8)The way her head fits perfectly, no matter where she rests it  
9)How she just seems to belong in my arms when I hold her  
10)How she calls me "Noah"  
11)How her hair falls into her place, despite those headbands she wears  
12)When she stomps her foot if she doesn't get her way...and how she storms off when nobody agrees with her. Pretty much everything that makes her a drama queen  
13)That adorable way she puts a gold star after her name all the time  
14)How she always looks for the good in people, despite how they'd treated her in the past  
15)She's just so damn helpful and good. I don't freaking deserve her, but I try not to let her know that, because I'm so damn afraid of losing her...  
16)The way she tells me she loves me...constanstly  
17)She can calm me with a touch  
18)She's practically physic-at least when it comes to me. She always knows when she needs to step in and calm me down before some sort of fight starts  
19)How she sits on my lap when I'm upset  
20)The way she gingerly touches me when trying to make me smile again  
21)The way she smiles at me  
22)Her giggle  
23)Her laugh  
24)Her moan  
25)How we committed the perfect crime-she stole my heart and I stole hers  
26)How we're two hot Jews  
27)We're just so cliche-d it's not even funny  
28)The way she can't just compliment anyone without adding how they could improve  
29)How she's always looking for improvement in everybody-including herself  
30)How she acts all shocked after getting slushied  
31)How she looks in those wet shirts after being slushied  
32)How she licks her lips after I toss a grape Slushy at her...  
33)Pretty much anything that has to do with her and slushies...  
34)When she smiles in the middle of a kiss  
35)The fact that she always has to be on top-and only protests when she isn't in that position...  
36)How sexy it is when she swears...  
37)The way she smellls  
38)How she's my best friend as well as my girlfriend  
39)Those hugs she gives me  
40)When she pretends she's mad at me  
41)When she teases me  
42)Puckleberry  
43)How she seems to add to my bad assness  
44)How excited she gets when I do something sweet  
45)How right it feels to say her name  
46)The way I have to pick her up to get her into my truck  
47)When we dance together in Glee  
48)Her reaction when I sing to her  
49)The way she sings...I love her voice. It makes me love her more than I always have  
50)I love her. In general. I love her.  
51)I want to be with her for the rest of my life  
52)I want to marry her someday  
53)She's my hot little Jewish American Princess  
54)I'm going to treat her like a princess forever. I don't ever want to lose her  
55)Everything about her is amazing and wonderful. _**

"Noah..."She whispered.

"Yeah?" He asked.

She shot an anxious look at the clock. It was 11:15.

"Berry?"

She debated whether she wanted to risk getting caught by Yetti.

She took her phone from her pocket and grinned. It was a text from his mom.

**Yetti: Have to work overtime. Won't be home until after 1**

She grinned as she turned towards him.

"Berry? What's up?" He asked.

"I'm ready." She said.

"Now?"

"Now."

"But my-"

"Noah, I don't _care."_

"Okay!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 10  
_Shout outs to Gleeks4all and BiggestGleekForeva-Puck's Girl for knowing that Puck made a heart with his hands (Taylor Swift, anybody?) and mouthed "I Love You" to Rachel. Now, my biggest question here is if that was a directed move or if Mark just got carried away, because we all know that he ships Puckleberry..._  
**

__The next day, when Rachel entered school in that little black skirt Puck loved so much with a lacy camisole under a tied up button down with knee socks and flats, everybody noticed something was different about her. The only person to actually come right out and say something though, was Santana.

"You slept with him," She smirked as she approached Rachel's locked.

"How on earth does my outfit imply that Noah and I slept together last night?" Rachel sighed, twirling one of her pigtails around her finger nervously. It was true that she and Noah had had sex the night before, but she didn't exactly want the news broadcasted across the entire school. It wasn't like she was a slut. She loved Noah, he was her boyfriend, and he loved her too. And he'd been so sweet to her throughout the whole thing...so gentle and caring, taking things slow for her. She shook her head, trying to block out the memories that would make her face flood with guilty emotions that would reveal everything.

"It's not so much your outfit as the fact that you happen to be wearing it. I mean, it's so un-Rachel Berry like...and then there's the fact that even look you look smoking hot, Puck's not following you around with the look in his eyes that shows that if any guy looks at you he's dead. And that can only mean that he's already marked his territory, at least, in his eyes." She explained. "And then we have that confident little smirk you're walking around with. I know that smirk. I _invented _that smirk," She shrugged.

"Am I really that obvious?" Rachel fretted, lowering her head, slightly ashamed at herself for being just so damn obvious about her adventures the previous night with Puck.

"Ray," Santana laughed. "First of all, stop worrying about being obvious. You lost your V-card, therefore, everybody in this school is going to realize something different about you, alright? That doesn't make it obvious exactly what it was. At least you don't still have F-innocence's virgin face," She crackled as Finn came walking by.

"Shut up, stripper," He called to her as he passed.

"Jolly Green Giant!" She tossed casually over her shoulder.

"Bitch," He responded.

"Worst quarterback ever to walk the halls of McKinley!" Santana yelled back.

"Slut," He said, stopping in his tracks and turning to face her.

"I wear heels bigger than your dick," She glared, crossing her arms.

"If I were your husband, I'd put poison in your coffee," He said as he started walking towards her.

"At least you know where you stand-now go make me a sandwich!" She snapped as she hooked arms with Rachel and walked off, the two girls giggling.

"That was a little unfair-there's no good comeback for that one..."Rachel scolded Santana playfully.

"Well he better come back with a damn good sandwich," Santana laughed.

* * *

Santana and Finn's verbal battle was still going on during lunch.

"Hey, Satan?" Finn said as he approached their lunch table. "Why don't you do us all a favor and go back to your home-Whore Island?" He asked. Rachel grabbed Santana's arm to keep her from standing up to attack him. "You know, now that we've got a new residential slut."He turned to face Rachel now. "You're a real hooker. I should slap you in public," He glared.

"If you were a man," Puck said darkly as he stood up. "I would punch you. Right in the face," He glared at him, shaking his head, his fists clenching.

"What? Puck, are you seriously defending her? I'm your best friend. And anyways, we all know that you only want her because of me. You've always been jealous of me. We might have started out the same way, with just a mom, but I grew up to be the hometown hero and you were always going to be the Lima Loser. That's why you had to try and steal Quinn from me. That didn't work-she didn't want you. And now you had to take Rachel...well, she's gonna realize what a loser you are soon enough and come running back to me." He smirked right at his supposed best friend.

"Yeah, sure, you're the hometown hero? Well, newsflash-you're the hometown hero of this hell hole we all want to get out of. In a few years, when these people are in college and living their own lives, they're not going to remember the football quarterback who never won a game. They'll remember the running back who scored the only touchdown of the only game we won sophomore year. They'll remember the head cheerleader of the National winning team. They'll remember the star-studded girl, destined for fame."Puck said.

"Puck, you think you understand people, but you don't. All you know is how to get into girl's pants," Finn said, a cold, insulting glare on his face.

"Well, that's one thing I can do that you can't," Puck smirked.

And then it all happened at once. Finn brought his hand up, reading to punch Puck, and Rachel was jumping up from her seat and tackling Finn to the ground in the next second, her hands slapping and punching at Finn at what seemed like the speed of light as Finn tried to push her off.

"Did anybody else just see Rachel Berry jump through the air like a freaky little ninja?" Mike Chang observed. Everybody slowly nodded, never taking their eyes off of the scene before them. "Okay, so it wasn't just me," He nodded, his eyes widened with fear as he focused on the fight taking place on the floor. "Remind me to never piss off Berry, alright?" He asked the rest of the group, trying to get the focus off of Rachel and Finn, but it wouldn't work. Nothing could ever tear somebody's eyes off a fight, especially when it came to one like this.

Suddenly, Puck started to move towards the couple on the ground and lift Rachel up, still kicking and thrashing her arms, protesting to be released. Her wrapped his arms tightly around her and set her on the ground, not letting go as he locked eyes on Finn who was slowly standing up. "I think it would be best if you walked away now, and didn't bother her for the rest of your life." Puck advised, looking down at his girlfriend in disbelief.

"It's a little late for that, Puck," The group turned around to see Mr. Shue standing there, looking disapproving at the scene. "Now, you two have two options. You can take on detention, and the fight won't go on your records, because I won't report it as a fight, or you can go see Figgins," He sighed. "What's it going to be?" He asked, shaking his head that his two brightest students had gotten into such a horrible fight, in front of the entire school. And that it had all been provoked by Finn, who was supposed to be a younger version of himself.

"I'll take detention," Rachel grumbled, pushing past Puck and sitting down besides Santana, taking Santana's bag and starting to search through it for a mirror.

"Yes, Rachel, I do have a mirror in my bag. Yes, you may go ahead and start searching through it for the mirror that you need, rather than asking me to get it for you. No, Rachel, I don't mind you going through my stuff, not at all," Santana replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Detention," Finn mumbled as he turned and headed out of the cafeteria. Puck started to follow after him, but took his arm and stopped him. "I think you should just let him go. He's clearly very upset and very angry. We don't need any more fights. Especially with you being on probation," Mr. Shue warned Puck who rolled his eyes and shrugged before heading back to the lunch table and sitting down, eyes locked on Rachel, a proud, small smile forming on his face as he stared at her.

"My girlfriend's a bad ass," Puck said proudly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 12  
_A/N: So I have to clean my room and unpack, because I just got back from vacation a few days ago. And by the time I finish that I have cheer practice, so this might just be my final update of the day. And that kills me more than it kills you, believe me on that one. I almost died on the plane on my way home because there was no wifi on the plane or in the airport (Well, it was slow at the airport). The only thing that kept me going was my Rachel and Puck playlist. _  
**

"Stop staring at me!" Rachel snapped as she and Finn sat in the spanish room that Thursday when they should have been in Glee. Instead, they couldn't go to practice because they were stuck in detention. And it was all Finn's fault. The only thing making him staring at her while they were stuck in a room alone for an hour was the fact that his lip still had dry blood on it from their fight and his nose had the start of a bruise on it. As well as the fading remnants of the blood from the bloody nose she'd given him. There were about thirty minutes left of their detention and they were slowly dragging by.

"Why would I want to stare at you? You've probably got some kind of STD from sleeping with Puck. You don't know where he's been," Finn said bitterly.

"Don't make me hurt you again," She muttered, staring directly ahead of her. If she turned around she'd have to look at him, and that was exactly what she was trying her damn best not to do. He was disgusting and she couldn't believe she'd ever kissed him or wanted to date him. How could she have ever mistaken that sad little crush she'd had on him for love, which was what she had with Noah? Finn was a jerk and an idiot. He didn't know how to love.

"Yeah, I was thinking about earlier and I know why you're so good at that. You're amazing at jumping on people's bones, aren't you?" He said bitterly. "You've turned into quite the slut since you started hanging around with Puck and his little group of players and whores," He replied.

"If I remember correctly, you used to be the leader of that little group," Rachel said calmly.

"Back when they were the Holy Trinity, led by Quinn. And I hope you're over that pathetic little crush you had on me, because I only date virgins," Finn said.

"Yup, Quinn was a really good virgin!" Rachel said sarcastically, turning around and facing him. "I mean, she slept with somebody who wasn't her boyfriend and got pregnant. Sounds like the best virgin in the world to me!" She said with a fake smile plastered on her face. "And sweety, they were never the holy trinity. They were always the unholy trinity," Rachel responded. "And, before you say it-yes, I am very proud to be a part of it, because Santana and Brittany are amazing friends," She rolled her eyes.

"You've gotta be good in bed," Finn said finally, after a few minutes silence.

"What the hell does that mean?" Rachel asked.

"Why else would Puck want to date you? You're not that pretty-your nose is way to big, really...and you've got the body of a little kid," He smirked at her.

"At least I don't have man boobs," Rachel shot back.

"It's sad when mine are bigger than yours," Finn retorted.

"That's sad too," Rachel rolled her eyes. "And I also remember you saying you wanted to kiss me before-and kissing me countless times. Apparently you like ugly girls?" Rachel said.

She would never let him know that his insults were, in fact, getting to her. She was self conscious enough when it came to her appearance. She understood that Quinn was a classic beauty, with her golden blonde locks and bright blue-green eyes. Her heart shaped face was perfectly symmetrical and she had a tiny little nose breaking up her facial features. She was the perfect height, with soft, subtle curves in all of the right places. And her voice was that low, husky, sultry voice that attracted guys like bees to honey. She also knew that Santana was the exotic beauty, with her deeply tanned skin and dark, glossy black waves. She had dark eyes and sharp, angular features with long legs, toned muscles, and curves that turned the heads of even teachers. She knew how to use her assets to get her whatever she wanted. And then there was Brittany, with her buttery blonde curls. She was the American beauty, with her blue eyes to match the blonde hair. She had a plain, pretty face, but with her skinny body, long limbs, and plentiful curves, all of the boys in school wanted her.

Rachel, with her long, dark hair that wasn't quite brown but not quite black, large nose, and brown eyes was just a plain, average girl that could be seen anywhere. She was like an extra in a movie.

But with Puck? She felt beautiful. She felt sexy. She had a confidence that made her forget any flaws she might have and allow herself to consider herself as beautiful. She thought she was hot. She recognized it when she turned heads. She appreciated the smiles she got from guys when she passed them in the hallways. And she knew very well how much she attracted Noah Puckerman to her. A girl as ugly as Finn wanted her to believe she was wouldn't be able to make the school's bad ass that turned on, right?

Still, that nagging shred of doubt was still in her head, being egged on by the insults Finn was throwing her way like footballs. Only, unlike his football playing abilities, his aim was dead on here and he wasn't missing the target. Not once.

That didn't mean Rachel had to let him know that though.

"You liked it," Finn said, standing up.

Rachel glanced at the clock. Only about five more minutes of this torture. She sighed in relief.

"You liked it," Finn repeated.

"What did I like?" Rachel asked, being pulled back into this cruel sense of reality she was being forced to live in.

"Me kissing you," He smirked.

"Why would I like that? You're not very good at it," She shrugged.

"You wanna say that again?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he started walking towards her.

"You're a terrible kisser," She said.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked.

"I'm absolutely posi-"She was cut off by his lips being pressed against her own, his large hands resting on her tiny waist as he pulled her closer to him.

And with that kiss, all of the memories came flooding back to her.

She remembered him carrying her book bag for her one day. She could remember their first little "date" of sorts, where they'd shared their first kiss. That proud look he'd flashed her when she'd fired Stanley and defended him, and the rest of the Glee club. Their bowling date and yet another secret kiss they'd shared. Him telling her how their kiss and his feelings for her were real, despite Quinn. Their flirt sessions during class. How he voted for her without doubt in the diva off. The way he'd told her that he actually did like her, despite the rest of the school's feelings towards her.

But, with all of those great memories, came the bad ones as well.

He'd left her for the year book picture, leaving her to represent the club alone. He'd been dating Quinn-and thought he was having a baby with her. He'd depended on her for help to get a job-and never said thank you after wards. He'd led her on countless times. He abononded her many times. He only wanted her when she was with somebody else. And he'd rejected her after she'd been the one to tell him about Quinn and Puck.

"STOP!" She shouted, pushing him off. Only, it hadn't been her voice that was heard over the new voice to enter the picture.

"What's going on in here?" Puck's voice wasn't louder than Rachel's, it wasn't more powerful. It was just filled with more emotion that hers.

"Noah, it wasn't-"She began, but he shook his head, turning around and walking away. "NOAH!" She shouted, chasing after him.

"Leave me alone, Rachel," He snapped, not looking back at her.

"I didn't-he kissed me! I didn't-"

"Rachel, just give me some time, alright?"

"Don't you trust me?"

"I thought I could."

"You can!"

"I'm not so sure anymore..."

"Noah, please just-"

"Rachel, please? I just need some time to think, alright?"

"Are you...are you breaking up with me?"

"What?" He stopped, turning around and facing her. "No, of course not." He shook his head. "Why would I do something stupid like that? Am I mad? Yes. Am I hurt? Of course I am. Am I jealous? Most definitely. But do I want to lose you? Hell no!"He told her.

"Are we still in love?"

"Of course we are," He nodded.

"So we're okay?"

"Bring it," He said, opening his arms and she raced into them, hugging him tightly. "But you owe me big time-not only did you step in so I couldn't punch the loser, but he got to kiss my girl-whether you liked it or not," He said.

"I can think of a few ways to make it up to you..."She grinned slyly.

"I might just take you up on those-but, I was actually thinking about you letting me punch him in the face...or hitting him with my truck, either or is fine," he nodded.


	13. Chapter 13

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 13**

"Hey, San?" Rachel asked as she pulled her shirt on while they started to change for Cheerio's practice. "Can I ask you something, without seeming like a total lesbian?" She asked, tugging a sports bra on and unhooking her bra and removing it.

"Dude, we're talking in a locker room, where we're pretty much all naked," Santana laughed. "The only way we could be any gayer is if we were Kurt or something-sorry, no offense. I know you and him are all tight and all," She shrugged as she tugged her hair back into a high ponytail, twisting a band around it tightly.

"This is true...but-do you think I'm ugly?" She asked, pulling on her Cheerio's tee shirt.

"What the hell brought that on?" Santana laughed, sliding her shorts on, over her Nike clad feet with the red trimmed, starch white socks. "No, you're not freaking ugly. Seriously, who put that freaking idea in your head?" She asked, raising her perfectly plucked eyebrows as she pulled her own shirt on. "Because I'm pretty sure about 95 percent of the guys at this school and waiting for you and Puckerman to break up," She replied. "And the other 5% are gay-or Finn," She shrugged.

"Well, that's actually what the problem is..."Rachel trailed off, starting to pull her own hair into a ponytail.

"You believed him? Rach, the only reason's he's in that tiny percentage who isn't waiting for you and Puck to break up is because he doesn't care if you're with Puck or not. He actually wants you more because of it," Santana laughed.

"Finn's a giant-you shouldn't date him. It's dangerous," Brittany observed.

"What?" Rachel giggled, turning towards the blonde haired girl.

"Well, he's really tall, right?" She asked. The girls nodded. "He's a giant!" Brittany declared.

"Oh, Britt," Santana and Rachel giggled as they each hooked arms with Brittany and started steering her from the locker room on their way to practice.

* * *

"Hey, Noah?" Rachel asked softly as she entered his truck after Cheerio's practice that night.

"Is this about what Finn said to you?" Puck sighed.

"How'd you hear about that?" She frowned, closing the door behind her.

"Santana text me," He replied.

"Well...yeah, that's what it's about..."She said.

"Well, I don't."

"You don't?"

"No."

"You don't think I'm ugly?"

"Hell no."

"You think I'm sexy?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"No, it's damn not okay!"

"What do you mean?"

"Why the hell do you let what he says affect you so much?"

"I don't!"

"You sure as hell do!" Puck snapped at her, slamming his hand against the steering wheel as he drove. "Rachel, why else would you be asking everybody if we agreed with him or not?" He asked. "Come on, Rach? Give me one good reason for that," He shook his head. "You can't, because you know I'm right," He sighed.

"Noah, please just listen to me!" She begged. "It's not that I believe him-it's just that I know that I'm not as pretty as Quinn or as sexy as Brittany or as exotic as Santana or-"

"Stop comparing yourself to everybody else! You're beautiful, alright? You're special and I want to be with you, but you're making that so damn hard on me. I don't do this sweet shit, and you're forcing me to! I think we've already accounted for how sexy and gorgeous I think you are. Do you really think I'd get as jealous as I do if you weren't so attractive that every guy at school couldn't keep their eyes off of you? Damn it, Rachel! I love you, okay? Get that through your head and stop listening to Finn, because he's just jealous of me!" Puck snapped.

"I...Noah, please don't get angry with me," Rachel whimpered.

"Please, don't cry, Rachel," He shook his head. "I can try to fake my way through this sweet stuff, but I'm not sure I can handle tears," He said.

"I...Noah, I love you-I just can't help but that his insults get to me. I've been bullied for so long that it starts to stick with you after a while," She whispered.

"Berry," He whispered, pulling into her driveway and wrapping an arm around her, pulling her across the bench seats and closer to him. "Oh, Rach, I'm so sorry," He said, burying his face in her hair. "I'm sorry I ever made you feel that way. I'm sorry I ever bullied you. I'm just so sorry," He shook his head.

"Noah," She sighed. "If there was ever anybody who made me feel special-beautiful, sexy...loved-it was you," She sighed as she reached up and kissed him softly.


	14. Chapter 14

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 14**

"But, the real reason Mario's so great is because he's not racist, you know? He's an italian plumber, created by Japanese video game makes who speaks english, looks like a Mexican and jumps like a black guy. Really, the only quality he doesn't have is the Jewish ones," Puck explained to Rachel on Friday before Glee rehearsal began. "And, since he and Luigi are the Super Mario Brothers, his name is technically Mario Mario," Puck went on to say. "Yet, it is a little silly that he can smash blocks with his head only to be killed by a turtle..." He shrugged.

"Are you going to propose to her by asking her to be your player two?" Brittany asked, turning around to face the couple.

"And he'll have his wedding band that'll say Player One-ready, and her ring will say Player Two-press start," Santana added with a smirk aimed directly towards the boy.

"Oh, please don't give him any ideas!" Rachel said, widening her eyes and shaking her head with fear. She'd been listening to Puck's endless rants about Mario since the minute he'd dropped her off at her house the previous day, calling her almost immediately after she'd entered her house, just to explain to her all about the 'coolness' and 'bad ass-ness' of Mario and all related games. It was driving her insane, but she still felt back about the kiss with Finn, and refused to tell him to stop because she didn't care.

"Personally, I think those mushrooms he ate all the time made him high or something," Matt said, leaning over to join in the conversation. "What other reasons would there be for everything in his little world to have eyes," He asked. Puck turned to his best friend in shock, his eyes widened in disbelief that his best friend would say something so cruel.

"Mario wasn't on drugs, man! He was the only guy to have his goals right. No matter how far his princess he was, he kept chasing her." Puck explained, wrapping an arm around Rachel's shoulders. "Just like I'd do for my girl," He grinned.

"Yeah, but he collected gold coins along the way," Mike replied with a smile.

"And Peach definitely had something going on with Bowser," Matt said. "How many times did she get kidnapped by him? In every game, besides the Super Mario Party games and the Mario Kart games, right?" He asked. "Yeah, I think she was banging him, and Mario ruined her good time," He nodded.

"I'm still amazed that no matter how many times Mario rescued Peach from that terrible turtle psycho, whenever they all got together to go go carting, he somehow managed to get an invite and tag along with them." Santana admitted. "I mean, seriously? Did anybody else notice that one, or was it just me?" She asked, looking around their group with her eyebrows raised. "Yeah, I didn't think so," She shrugged.

"Whoever told him to quit his day job and do what makes him happy..."Mike trailed off. "Had to be the biggest idiot in the world, because apparently what made him happy was playing in the plumbing systems while he chased around a princess who got kidnapped by steroid taking turtles repeatedly, while eating magical mushrooms that increase his size. Yeah, that's a really good way to live your life. I think when we graduate, we should all do that! Or, even better-we can drop out of school and start being like Mario right now!" He said sarcastically.

"Why do we all have to make fun of my passion?" Puck wondered.

"I thought Rachel was your passion?" Brittany asked, her pale eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Does she know that you're gay now?" She asked softly.

"Britt," Santana sighed, wrapping an arm around her blonde best friend's shoulders and turning her around as Mr. Shue entered the room, late as always. "I'll explain it all to you later, alright? Puck's not gay, and Rachel is one of his many passions and obsessions," She whispered.

"You like Mario, right, Berry?" Puck frowned, pulling Rachel closer to him and allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. "Right?" He asked sharply, his eyes narrowing as he struggled to look down at his girlfriend without moving her or showing just how panicked he was that his girlfriend might not be as into Mario as he was. Because doing that would make him seem like video games was more important to him than girls, and everybody knew how much Noah Puckerman liked his girls. Especially ones as good in bed as Rachel happened to be.

"Yeah, of course I like Mario," Rachel said quickly, but just a little too fast and a little too late. Still, if she was willing to lie in order to keep him happy by making him think they had common interests, it showed him that she really did care. And that made him happy. And that made him willing to compromise. Just a little. "But I love you more," She said softly as she cuddled just a little close. After all, not even Mario could make him give this up.

"Alright guys-who wants to present this week's assignment first?" Mr. Shue asked. Nobody had volunteered to show off their duet so far this week. After all, Rachel was usually the first to step up for a solo opportunity, and she'd wanted hers to surprise everything, despite them all knowing that she and Puck were in love.

Quinn shot an angry glare at Finn, who was her partner-the two had been fighting since Quinn's conversation with Puck in his truck earlier that week and one could only assume that their project had never been completed.

Kurt Hummel and Mercedes Jones stared at each other with raised eyebrows and guilty expressions on their faces. Another non completed assignment. Tina Cohen-Chang and Artie Abrams both blushed as they tried to avoid Mr. Shue's glance. It was clear that most of the usual suspects in the Glee Club when it came to performances had slacked off for one reason or another. That disappointed Rachel more than it did Mr. Shue.

Santana and Brittany had finished their assignment, and they were the only two other than Puck and Rachel. After all, it was common knowledge that Matt and Mike never sang. They were typically excused from any vocal assignments, mainly because of their intense dancing abilities, which made everybody else's-with the exception of Brittany's and Rachel's moves-look inferior. Somehow, the two football players managed to dance like they belonged in the cast of a S_tep Up _movie, rather than in an episode of _Friday Night Lights. S_omehow, they managed to merge their talents though.

"Rachel and I have ours ready," Puck spoke up, shocking every single person in that room, besides Rachel.


	15. Chapter 15

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 15  
_A/N: TRIVIA IS BACK! Q-Who initiated the Season 1 Break-up? Also, I hope y'all don't mind this chapter being a bit heavy on the Facebook parts..._**

**Santana Lopez-my girl Rachel Berry and her man rocked the house today in Glee with their duet!  
Rachel Berry, Noah Puckerman, Brittany .S. Pierce, and 7 others like this post  
**

**Rachel Berry: You guys did awesome when you sang "What Is This Feeling!"  
Noah Puckerman: Not as good as us!  
Kurt Hummel: I'm ashamed to admit that my assignment just wasn't completed...  
Mercedes Jones, Artie Abrams, Quinn Fabray, Tina Cohen-Chang and 3 others like this comment  
Rachel Berry: I'm very ashamed in you as well diva  
Kurt Hummel: Well I'm ashamed in you! You've been very lacking in spending time with Mercedes and I lately  
Mercedes Jones likes this comment  
Rachel Berry: Aw, I'm srry :(  
Kurt Hummel: I guess you're forgiven...  
Rachel Berry: Come over for a sleepover tonight?  
Noah Puckerman: Alright!  
Rachel Berry: It's girls only  
Kurt Hummel: I take offense to that...  
Rachel Berry: It's girls and Kurt only  
Kurt Hummel: That's better!  
Santana Lopez: So are Britt and I invited?  
Rachel Berry: The more the merrier! Tina, Quinn-you guys wanna come?  
Tina Cohen-Chang: Can't, I've got a date with Artie, but I would have loved to.  
Quinn Fabray: After all I've done to you?  
Rachel Berry: I'm forgiving  
Quinn Fabray: I don't think it's a good idea with the baby and all...  
Rachel Berry: Do you really think there's going to be drinking at my sleepover?  
Quinn Fabray: You really want me there?  
Rachel Berry: Yes  
Quinn Fabray: I'll come**

* * *

**Rachel Berry-Sleep over with my girls tonight! with Santana Lopez, Brittany .S. Pierce, Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones, and Quinn Fabray  
Santana Lopez, Brittany .S. Pierce and 3 others like this status  
**

**Noah Puckerman: I wanna come :(  
Rachel Berry: Get over it  
Noah Puckerman: But I miss you  
Santana Lopez: D'aw  
Rachel Berry: I'll see you tomorrow  
Noah Puckerman: But I wanna see you NOW  
Rachel Berry: You've got pictures  
Noah Puckerman: Why don't you love me anymore?  
Rachel Berry: Because you're so clingy. I don't do commitments.  
Santana Lopez: Way to sound like Puckerman!  
Kurt Hummel: Puck only wants to go because he thinks it's a bunch of half naked girls having pillow fights  
Rachel Berry: And making out with each other?  
Santana Lopez: Doesn't he know we take turns with Kurt?  
Noah Puckerman: I don't care if he's gay or not-he ain't kissing my girl  
Rachel Berry: Are you afraid he's a better kisser?  
Brittany .S. Pierce: Since when do we kiss Kurt at sleep overs?  
Quinn Fabray: We were joking...  
Santana Lopez: I'll explain later, Britt  
Brittany .S. Pierce: Okay  
Kurt Hummel: Don't worry Puck-I don't want ur girl  
Noah Puckerman: Good, because she's all mine  
Finn Hudson: Until she comes running to me  
Rachel Berry: I need to block him  
Santana Lopez: But then I can't mock him for ur amusement on ur status!  
Rachel Berry: So true  
Santana Lopez: Or tag him to humiliate him  
Rachel Berry: That's enough San  
Noah Puckerman: Can I please come to the party  
Quinn Fabray: No  
Noah Puckerman: Why?  
Rachel Berry: Because then we can't talk about you  
Noah Puckerman: :(  
Rachel Berry: Although...my parents are out of town...anybody up for a party tonight?  
Noah Puckerman: that's my girl  
Santana Lopez: All Glee members?  
Rachel Berry: Even Finn's welcome**

* * *

Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, and Noah Puckerman were working hard on getting Rachel's house ready for the first Glee-only party in all of McKinley existence. Noah was busy taking inventory on her fathers' liquor cabinets so he could replace everything before they got back. Santana was working on finding some music for entertainment and Rachel and Brittany were getting the snacks together.

"Okay, is Rachel ready for her make-over?" Quinn Fabray asked as she entered the basement where Rachel was hosting the party. She was holding up her sleep over bag, full of make-up and clothes that Rachel would be trying on, if Quinn and Kurt Hummel didn't find anything suitable for the host in her own closet. Kurt was standing right behind Quinn with a wickedly evil grin on his face as he studied his diva of a best friend, arms crossed over his chest as he eyes her in a 'I told you so' kind of way that scared Rachel just a little bit.

"I thought I said no to that? She's perfect the way she is," Puck frowned, looking up from his work.

"This was my idea, Noah," Rachel shook her head, walking towards the gorgeous blonde and the tall, feminine boy besides her. They were the two designated drivers, for the males who would be attending the party, besides Kurt himself.

"I don't know if I like this idea...I mean, Finn's going to be here tonight and everybody's going to be drinking. And I don't want to spend the whole time chasing you around because you're so freaking sexy looking..."Puck frowned, shaking his head. Rachel crossed her arms, smirked at him, and raised her eyebrows at him. He sighed and went back to his counting. He knew there was no arguing when it came to Rachel. She always got her way, especially when she was asking him for something. So, he found it better to give up after she disagreed with his argument. It was a hell of a lot easier than risking her deciding not to give him any, like she'd threatened five times already since he'd arrived.

* * *

Rachel Berry entered her party in a black corset dress that flowed out right above her hips in a cute, full skirt that ended at the middle of her thighs with a pair of black strappy heels.

"Rachel has the best shoe collection in the freaking world and she doesn't even wear half of them. I'm reporting her," Quinn announced.

"For what?" Kurt asked, shaking his head as he reached over to fix one of Rachel's curls. Her make-up was done somewhat naturally, with Quinn's glitter used to brighten her face up and grab everybody's attention-which, she really didn't need help with, what with her late arrival and her incredible outfit and body. All eyes were on her, especially the angry glare of Noah Puckerman and the hopeful, wistful gaze that Finn Hudson had locked right on her, scanning her from the long, toned legs, all the way up the the beautiful face, framed with the dark haired, curly mane.

"What the hell did you do to my girlfriend?" Puck muttered, shaking his head as he stood up and walked towards her. He would never say what he was thinking, that she didn't look half as good as she usually did, when she looked like herself, because that would make her feel bad. It would also make her think that she didn't look incredibly sexy that night, which would have been a lie. Because she did look sexy.

Rachel opened her mouth, to question Puck's opinion on her appearance, but she never got a chance to add the words. "You look incredible, and I wish I could just take you up to your room right now and spend the party there," He whispered to her, his voice a low growl as he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close, kissing her directly on the lips, pulling her even closer to him. Mike and Matt shared a high five and a "whoop" in celebration as Santana cranked up the stereo, announcing that she hoped the neighbors liked this song. Brittany jumped up on a table with her vodka already in hand as she raised up her glass and announced that it was officially time to get the party started.


	16. Chapter 16

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 16**

The party never should have happened. Because at the party, some very bad things happened, that would only end up hurting the Glee club and affecting them in negative matters. Friendships were broken. Secrets were revealed. Relationships were ended. Hook-ups happened. And that's only the start of it.

Yet, all Rachel could remember when she woke up was that Noah had stormed from the party in anger after punching Finn in the face and telling her it was over-all over. The only people who had actually stayed with her had been Brittany and Santana.

"What happened last night?" Santana grumbled, shaking her head as she closed her eyes tightly. "Damn, my head is killing me. Damn, Berry, you throw a freaking awesome party," She said.

"Shit!" Rachel swore, staring at her phone. "Shit, shit, _shit!" _Rachel swore, throwing it to the ground. "I'm so dead. My dads are going to kill me and then resurrect me just to kill me again!" She announced.

"Why? What the hell happened?" Santana swore as she sat up and faced the worrying Jewish girl. "Oh, shit, Puck broke up with you last night...but, why? What the frigg happened?" She repeated.

"I don't even know!" Rachel shook her head. "But he won't freaking replace the alcohol from my dads' cabinet and if they found out I had a party and drank their shit, I'm dead!" She informed her.

"That freaking jack ass!" Santana replied, standing up and walking towards the cabinet. "He's the only one with a freaking fake ID that's any good and we only had the freaking party for his sake!" She said.

"I don't even get what happened," Rachel sighed. "I mean, he punched Finn and left me here without anything other than his last words. What the hell did I do because I most certainly did not cheat on him!" She announced.

"It was a party! Everybody was drunk and we were playing truth or dare all night-and that was his idea! And damn him-he took the freaking inventory list with him. Rach, I don't know what to do! He's always helped me resupply after my parties!" Santana panicked.

"Why the hell is he acting this way?" Rachel said, falling to the ground and hugging her knees and pulling them closer to her. "I just...he's not answering my texts either. San, what's happening?" She asked.

"Bad, bad things," Santana said. "And I really can't remember anything about last night." She shook her head as she studied Rachel's liquor cabinet. "But, I do have some good news, sweety," She nodded.

"What's that?" Rachel mumbled. She didn't believe Santana. She'd lost the love of her life and she couldn't figure out any reason besides the fact that he was a jerk who'd finally gotten what he wanted so he could leave.

"None of the bottles are empty, so all we do is water everything done. Your dads' just think it's the cheap shit," Santana shrugged. "Which is silly, because it's all expensive stuff but that's our plan and we're sticking to it," She declared.

"It's better than being dead," Rachel shrugged, rolling her eyes as she leaned back onto the floor and rolled back to her side, looking at the sleeping Brittany, who seemed so happy and without a single problem.

But Rachel knew that was wrong. She knew that Santana and Brittany were just as screwed as she was, but she just couldn't figure out what had happened to the three of them the night before.

* * *

"I think I found something about the party!" Santana announced happily on Sunday morning as she sat on Rachel's bed, Rachel's laptop sitting in front of her. Santana had been scanning Facebook for days, trying to figure out what had happened at the party.

"Let me see!" Rachel blurted, lunging forward the stare at the screen. Sure enough, there it was-pictures, photographic evidence right there on Matt Rutherford's account. Actual pictures of the girls' destruction.

**Matthew Rutherford uploaded 54 new pictures to his album SOPHOMORE YEAR-GLEE**

"I kissed Brittany?" Santana asked, her jaw dropping in shock as her eyes widened. "Oh my god-shit, shit, shit _shit!" _She swore as she slapped her knee repeatedly. "I can't believe I freaking made out with my freaking best friend!" She shouted.

"Shush! My dads are down stairs!" Rachel hushed her. "And anyways, you're not the one that made out with freaking Finn Hudson and let him feel you up!" She whispered in outrage as she stared at the pictures.

Sure enough, there were about ten pictures of Santana and Brittany kissing. Each one clearly showed that they were enjoying themselves and that it was a very deep make-out session.

As for Rachel, well, there were probably just as many pictures of her sitting on Finn's lap with his hands _everywhere _on her body-sliding up her skirt, resting on her breasts-while she kissed him with a passion.

"I'm going to _kill _Matt!" Santana said, snapping the computer shut and kicking her feet over the edge and standing up, smoothing out her lime green pencil mini dress and adjusting the cropped denim jacket she was wearing over it.

"What are you gonna do? Seduce him to death?" Rachel crackled, tossing her head back and giggling at Santana's sexy little outfit, made even better by her black ankle boots with the high heel.

"Oh, shut up you freaking skank!" She laughed back at Rachel. "Like you're outfit's any better? You look like a nun!" She teased, observing Rachel's boyfriend fit jeans and sneakers that she'd paired with a Victoria's Secret hoodie.

"I'm in _depression! _I lost my boyfriend who I loved and clearly I was wrong in thinking that all he wanted was sex, because I freaking let another guy feel me up!" She protested, not really caring if her fathers heard her and Santana.

"You think you've got problems? I freaking made out with Brittany-who isn't taking to me or you for that matter, because she's dating Mike Chang and-"Santana began, but Rachel glared at her and interrupted.

"What the hell? Are you jealous that she's with Mike?" She asked. "Wait a second..."She frowned, pushing the computer aside and pushing her legs over the side of her bed, sitting up straight.

"What? No!" Santana shook her head. "I'm not jealous she's with Mike-I'm not a lesbian. I'm jealous that she's freaking with Mike when I'm not with Matt and that Mike clearly doesn't care about the freaking pictures, unlike Matt who posted them online!" She said honestly.

"Aw, sweety," Rachel said, standing up and hugging Santana. "Listen, I promise-we'll get through this, alright? Me and you together, because we're best friends. And if Matt cares about some drunk photos from truth or dare, then he's not worth you," She said.

"And if Puck's jealous about a drunk make-out with Finn in a game of truth or dare, than you can do way better than his sorry ass," Santana laughed as she hugged Rachel back. "You and me against the world?" She asked.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," She said. "You and I against the world-and we'll figure this all out, alright? By making those sorry boys pay, alright?" She grinned as she and Santana broke up their hug.

"Sue sent me a text last night," Santana whispered. "She kicked us off the team," She told Rachel, sitting down on the edge of the bed besides Rachel with a soft thump as her butt hit the mattress.

"That's alright. It's just gonna give us some more time to make those boys realize that we're better than they deserve and they can't just get us to come crawling back-because I can swear that Matt was crazy about you, alright?" Rachel said.

"Well, duh! Every guy in school's been crazy about me at least once in his life. I'm sexy as sin, remember?" Santana giggled. Rachel pushed her playfully and laughed with her, and, just like that, the girls forgot about their problems and the trouble they could have gotten into.


	17. Chapter 17

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 17**

Noah Puckerman entered school on Monday with a glare on his face to match the scowl that had taken a permanent place on his mouth. He'd lost Rachel Berry, to Finn Hudson. Although, to be fair, he'd probably over reacted just a little bit. After all, he had been the one to initiate the party. He'd been the one to open her father's liquor cabinet. He'd been the one to spike her punch. And he'd been the one to suggest they play truth or dare. Sure, he hadn't planned on her getting drunk, or on Brittany daring her to kiss the person on her left-poor, confused Brittany hadn't understood that Puck was located on Rachel's _right. _Yet, Puck had to take most of the blame for what had happened. He still didn't want to admit he was wrong though.

"I told you she was going to come running to me when you messed things up and she realized you weren't worth her time," Finn smirked at him as Puck reached his locker.

"Don't make me hit you, okay? I don't have the energy to deal with you and your bull shit today," A tired, sleepy looking Puck responded. His dark eyes were rimmed with red and puffy from lack of sleep. There were bags under his eyes that didn't make sense for two sleepless nights. "Honestly, the only punches I'd be able to manage wouldn't be worthy of the punches you deserve," He mumbled as he turned around, walking away from Finn.

He just couldn't believe that Rachel had cheated on him. Mostly because, for something to happen in a drunken moment, to that emotional level, meant that there were actual, sober relations behind it. And that meant it was cheating, no matter what his part in it was. And there was only one acceptable excuse for cheating. "I wanted to." Because that was the only reason it ever happened. Besides that, trust was like glass. Once it was broken, there was just no way of repairing it. It could only be replaced. And that wasn't good enough for Puck. Not when it came to Rachel.

But the real reason for all of Puck's anger and pain was not because Rachel had 'cheated'. Most of it was all because of what had happened when the boy who could handle his alcohol had arrived at home. And slept with Brittany Pierce.

After all, Brittany didn't just stop talking to her friends because of a few drunken pictures of her making out with her best friend. She didn't give up on her best friends because she'd gotten a boyfriend. Brittany might be stupid, but even she wasn't dumb enough to think she could hide something like helping Puck cheat on Rachel right after she'd gotten together with Mike.

After all, Puck typically had one view on cheating. Don't cheat. If somebody's unhappy in a relationship, they should just leave.

And, cheating on a girl like Rachel-a good girl-was like dropping a diamond and picking up a rock. It wasn't the same and it wasn't good. Rachel was too pretty to be single, but she was also too smart to be lied to and cheated on.

Puck had turned into a monster. He was a liar. He was a cheater. He was turning into one of those fake people who nobody cared about or believed. He was turning into the type of person who hurt other people. He'd hurt Finn Hudson because he'd slept with Quinn Fabray and gotten her pregnant. He'd hurt Rachel because he'd walked out on her in a jealous rage before cheating on her. It didn't matter that he'd told her it was over. All that mattered was that he'd still cheated on. Rachel's had been due to alcohol. Rachel's had been due to a dare during a game. But Puck's had been voluntarily. Puck's had been meant to hurt her and destroy her happiness. And Rachel's had been an accident.

And that was when he saw her. It seemed as if it had been forever, even though it had only been a few days. She looked so much better than she ever had before. He approached her, asking her how things were going. Well, he wanted to. Honestly, he'd pick her over any other girl in the world, but he'd lost that right now. Now it was hard for him to look at her without crying. It just hurt too much. If he was able to bring himself to talk to her, he'd tell her that he missed her-and he'd mean it. He loved her and he hated knowing that he'd never get to hold her again. He'd never get one last hug. All he wanted to do now was go back home and cry, skipping school like he always had before. After all, nothing mattered anymore. He'd lost her.

* * *

Rachel saw Puck.

"Do you think he still cares about me?" She asked Santana, her eyes locked firmly on Puck. She knew it would be impossible for her to stop staring at him, no matter how humiliating that might be for her.

"Berry, he's Noah Puckerman. I bet he's got a new girlfriend by now," Santana said softly. She wasn't saying it to be mean or hurtful. She was saying it to be honest, because she knew how Puck was better than anybody else. "And he's probably going to act really happy now, especially since any new girl won't require the commitments that you did," She added.

"You're right. He can't even look at me," She whispered. "It was all a lie, wasn't it? He never meant it when he said he loved me, did he? He never meant any of it, because he never cared about me," She said, swallowing hard as she blinked repeatedly, trying to block the tears that she was sure were going to follow this conversation. She was sure that he was in love with this new girlfriend Santana seemed so sure he had now. Rachel would never even get another friendly hug from him again. "Can I go home and cry now?" She whispered. She still loved him, after all.

"Oh, Rach," Santana whispered, reaching out and hugging her tightly. "Wait a second-what the hell? Brittany just turned and walked away from us-purposefully!" She snapped, pushing Rachel away and storming towards the blonde, tall girl. As soon as she reached her, she took her wrist and pulled her arm, turning her around, glaring right into her blue eyes with her own dark, brown eyes. "Brittany, what the hell is going on? You haven't answered our calls in forever! Rachel's in freaking denial and heartbreak and there are pictures of us all over the internet and you're ignoring us? What the hell kind of friend are you?" She snapped at her as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I...Rachel...I...Santana..."Brittany stuttered, her head lowered. And that's when everything started to come back to Rachel. That one memory that she hadn't been able to fully access from the party.

That terrible memory she'd had when she'd chased after Puck, right after he'd left. She saw two people kissing, right outside her house. She knew that it was wrong to stare, but she couldn't help but do so. The scene was absolutely perfect-like watching one of those scenes in a romantic movie. His hands were resting on her neck and her arms were wound tightly around his neck. The kiss was full of passion. It was genuine and real. She could practically feel the passion and love between the couple. She would even admire them, if the reality of it all hadn't come to her so soon. The two realizations she made awoken her and hurt her more than anything else in the world.

They weren't two random strangers. They were her boyfriend, and her best friend.

"You bitch!" Rachel snapped, turning away from Brittany and walking towards Puck with determination, her anger growing with each and every step. When she reached him, he had his back to her and was busy at his locker. She reached out and tapped on his shoulder, waiting with her arms crossed as he slowly turned around, a guilty look on his face.

"Forget that new girl that's in your bed. Because you know what? When you're with her, I bet I'm going through your head," She snapped, looking up at him. "A relationship happens to be made for two, alright?" She told him. "I know Brittany's stupid and all, but I thought that you could count even if the bitch couldn't," She rolled her eyes.

"Rachel, I'm sorry okay? It was a mistake!" Puck said.

"A mistake? No, you see, cheating is a _choice. _It's not a mistake. A mistake is putting salt in the cookies instead of sugar. A mistake is the fact that Rachel ever started dating you!" Santana said, appearing behind Rachel with her arms crossed.

"Rach, it didn't mean anything, alright? It was just an accident. Brittany isn't anything to me, okay? You know I would never do anything to hurt you like that. I was just upset about the Finn thing and all that. I wouldn't cheat on another friend's girl, and I wouldn't cheat on you, okay? It was a terrible accident!" He pleaded with her, sadness flooding his eyes.

She didn't care. "Cheating is not a freaking accident!" She snapped at him, stomping her foot. He jumped back, surprised at just how violently and angry she was getting and reacting the situation. "Falling off of your bike is an accident. An accident is just another word for a mistake. But you know what? You can't trip and fall onto a vagina," She told him. Even Santana gasped at the word choices that Rachel had used to discuss this matter with him. Rachel didn't pause to notice anybody's shock though. She was too worked up.

"Rachel, please don't do this. Don't leave me," He said.

"Me don't leave you? You freaking left me when you made out with my best friend! With your best friend's girlfriend! You know what? You and Brittany deserve one another, because you're both a bunch of cheaters and liars. I hope you're very happy together. In fact, I hope she gives you herpes," She said bitterly, her voice just dripping with venom.

"Wait-you made out with Brittany when you left Rachel's party? What the hell? Tell me that's all that happened," Suddenly, Mike Chang was in the conversation as well. Rachel was a little stunned to see the crowd that had surrounded them. Brittany was there, Matt was there, and Kurt was there, as well as Mike.

"We slept together," Brittany admitted, her voice low and full of shame. "Rachel, I'm so sorry-I was drunk and I was confused about the Santana stuff and the everything with Mike...and Puck looked so sad and all and I just didn't know what to do. I'm sorry, Rachel-and I'm sorry Mike. I'm sorry everybody! I'm ruining it all, aren't I?" She wondered, tears flooding her eyes. If Rachel wasn't so broken hearted, she would have found it difficult to be so angry at Brittany. Actually, Rachel found it hard to blame the girl at all for what had happened. She understood how Puck could be. She'd fallen under his spell as well. He could make any girl feel loved, and Brittany was naive enough without the alcohol.

"I forgive you," Rachel whispered, holding her arms out and allowing the blonde to step in for a hug. "As for you you?" She told Puck. "You're not so freaking lucky. As a matter of fact, I wish I could cut off your little friend. Then I could live happily ever after knowing that you couldn't be with some other girl. And knowing that you could never make another girl feel as shitty as you've made me feel right now," Rachel said, the sadness starting to flood her voice. "I'm done here," She said, hooking arms with Santana and Brittany before turning around and walking away, her personal body guards-her best friends-acting as her protectors, working hard to keep Puck away from her.

"I hate you, Puck," She called over her shoulder, breaking his heart into a tiny little pieces and destroying any shred of hope he'd had left. When she called him Noah, she loved him and cared about him. She wanted to be his friend, at the very least. When he was Puckerman, she needed something. She wanted help. She was ready to negotiate. When he was Noah Puckerman, he was the school's bad ass who she was intimidated by and who impressed her. But when he was called Puck? That was when he could be sure she was angry and truly hated his guts.


	18. Chapter 18

**Friends Witg Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 18**

"Rachel, can we please talk?" Puck pleaded that day in Glee rehearsal as Rachel sat in front of him with Santana and Brittany flanked on either side of her. "I love you, I really do, alright? Don't you get that?" It was later that day-the day Rachel had deemed as the worst day of her life-and Puck had been moping around all day. "You know, you might move on but I'm going to be single forever because I can't be with you, but I refuse to be with anybody other than you," He told her. "I love you," He repeated, his voice a low, soft whisper that was full of pain and sadness. He was begging her, something he never did with girls. But Rachel didn't even turn around to look at him. She just continued to stare blankly ahead.

"I'm not a second choice," She hissed. "Did you ever really love me?" She wondered, running a hand through her hair as she lowered her head.

"Of course I loved you! I never told anybody else that before, Rachel. I don't lie about that shit. Not for sex. And I wouldn't lie to you, not about something like that," He said whispering harshly in her ear.

"You were the first person to break my heart. For the rest of my life, you will always be the person who hurt me the most. Don't ever forget that," She shook her head. Loving Puck was a war, and she was sure that she wouldn't survive. It wasn't really the love for him that was hurting her so much. It was the memories they had that were killing her.

"You deserve somebody who knows how to make it up to you after he's hurt you. Somebody who will take the time he really needs to take in order to make it up to you," Santana told Rachel, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders. "What you don't deserve is somebody who's really very good at saying I'm sorry," She informed her. "You'll be okay, eventually. Just not today," she shrugged, allowing Rachel to lay her head on her shoulders as she massaged her shoulder, trying to calm her down to avoid the tears she was sure were going to come.

"Rachel, I promise that next time-"

"Next time?" Rachel blurted, sitting up straight and turning around, glaring at him. "There will be _no _next time," She snapped, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as she slowly turned around, wishing that she could be a little kid again. After all, skinned knees were just so much easier to fix than broken hearts. And back when she was eight, all people had to do was tag her, and suddenly she was IT.

"Head up, shoulders back-dry those tears, and put your fake, brightest smile on that you can muster. ," Santana muttered to Rachel under her breath. Rachel nodded once before quickly straightening her shoulders and lifting her head, running a hand under her eyes as she flashed a her biggest, brightest 'I'm doing just fine without you' smile. It sucked really, because when she and Puck had been together, their love had been magical and she'd felt as if she were in heaven. But it hurt her like hell. Unfortunately, she'd let him change her. Broken hearts were what changed people, after all.

"How the hell did you get to be so good at this stuff?" She wondered, turning to face her best friend just as Mr. Shue came walking into the room, an oblivious, bright smile on his face.

"Because I know what it's like to have my heart broken," Santana said. "To feel like the only reasonable option out there is suicide, only to know that it won't really work, because he'll move on whether you're there or not." She said softly. "But don't worry, okay? One day, you're going to find the guy and the only make-up he's going to ruin is going to be your lipstick. He wouldn't even dream about ruining your mascara," She giggled, and sighed softly in relief as Rachel started to laugh with her. "And just remember-the best revenge you can do is smile and show him that you're just as happy without him as you were with him. And besides, you can't really be jealous. Didn't your parents ever tell you to give your toys to the less fortunate when you were done with them?" She smirked.

"Okay guys, so this week we're going to be working on-"Mr. Shue began, but he cut himself off when Rachel quickly shot her hand in the air. "Rachel, what is it? I'm trying to tell you guys the assignment for the-"

"Mr. Shue, as much as we all love and appreciate your stupid assignments," Rachel said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she lowered her hand. "None of us really care this week, because we have much bigger problems. I think what we should focus on are songs about our regrets from the party Friday night," She explained. "After all, that's the only way we can all move on from it, right?" She asked, recrossing her arms. "I, for one, happen to know the perfect song to start us off with," She replied, standing up and walking towards Brad and telling him about her song choice. Only Santana knew what it was and both girls shared a secret smirk, knowing that it would shock and surprise everybody with her choice.

"Rachel! You cannot just take over the Glee club like-"

"Mr. Shue? In all fairness, Rachel's kind of the only one who really gives two shits about your stupid assignments, so I think that when she has an idea-and her idea happens to be good-we should all listen to her. Because, honestly, none of us should piss her off. She's the one thing making us stand out at competitions, after all," Santana shrugged.

Mr. Shue shrugged, nodding for Rachel to go ahead. It was clear that the rest of the Glee club was going to back her up, with the nodding and muttering agreement they were making. And, honestly, he was just happy that his entire club happened to be on the same page for once. All but one, that was, but he could figure what exactly had happened at the party. The Glee Club's very own power couple, which they'd deemed as Puckleberry, must have broken up. And from the ashamed look on Brittany's face, the angry glare on Mike Chang's, and the confident smirk on Finn's, it wasn't hard to figure out what had happened.

"I know most of you guys would probably assume that I'd sing a song about my anger at...certain people for...what they did to hurt me at my party, but I'm planning on instead of taking on the little shred of the blame that I have for myself. So, I'll be singing about that one little mistake I made at the party, despite the fact that it had been provoked by that stupid idiot that I chose to believe in all of his lies," She said, smiling brightly at nobody in particular.

"Rachel, I don't think I understand," Finn spoke up. "I would think that your only regrets from that party would be trusting-"

"Finn, shut the hell up! This whole freaking mess started because of you so just shut the hell up and let the girl sing her solo, okay? Everybody in the club's been giving her a hard time all year, and I, for one, will not stand for it any longer!" Santana snapped over her shoulder.

"Rachel's our friend, and we were all bitches to her at one point or another, weren't we? Well, I'm standing up for it. THe next person to give her a hard time? They're going to have to answer to Brittany, Santana, and me," Quinn said, crossing her arms and glaring at the people around her, focusing on Puck. Mr. Shue intervened, interrupted to tell the teenagers to get back to work and focus on the assignment at hand. The three popular, beautiful ex-cheerleaders (and one current cheerleader) all crossed their arms and then their legs before turning their glares onto Mr. Shue. "Go ahead, Rachel!" Quinn said brightly, smiling at Rachel pleasantly. Rachel smiled back at her gratefully.

"Alright, then, here it goes," She smiled right at the front row where her three best friends sat and took a deep breath. Then the music began to fill the room and everything changed. Rachel was no longer angry and bitter, wanting only to glare at Noah Puckerman. Instead, she was sad and miserable, longing the boy she loved so very much. There was a sparkle to her eyes that everybody could tell were the sign of tears that were sure to come along with this performance. Santana had seen her practice it countless times over the weekend, after all. And then, Rachel started to sing.

_"Comparisons are easily done once you've had a taste of perfection,  
Life an apple hanging from a tree, I picked the ripest one.  
I still got the seed. You said move on. Where do I go?  
I guess second best is all I will know.  
Because when I'm with him, I am thinking of you.  
What you would do if you were the one who was spending the night  
Oh I wish that I was looking into your eyes."_

She sang. But, unlike most people would expect-except for Santana, who knew of her plan-her gaze was located on Finn, rather than Puck.

_"You're like an Indian summer in the middle of winter.  
Like a hard candy with a surprise center  
How do I get better once I've had the best?  
You said there's tons of fish in the water,  
So the waters I will test.  
He kissed my lips I taste your mouth.  
He pulled me in, I was disgusted with myself.  
'Cause when I'm with him, I am thinking of you.  
Thinking of you-what you would do if you were the one  
Who was spending the night.  
Oh I wish that I was looking into..."  
_

All Puck wanted to do was stand up and storm out of the room, but there was a tiny part of him that longed to see how this would end.

_"You're the best and yes I do regret  
How I could let myself let you go  
Now the lesson's learned  
I touched it, I was burned  
Oh I think you should know  
'Cause when I'm with him  
I am thinking of you  
Thinking of you  
What you would do if  
You were the one  
Who was spending the night  
Oh I wish that I was  
Looking into your eyes  
Looking into your eyes  
Looking into your eyes  
Oh won't you walk through  
And bust in the door  
And take me away  
Oh, no more mistakes  
'Cause in your eyes I'd like to stay," _She finished, her eyes locked firmly on Finn Hudson's as she said those words that killed Noah Puckerman.

"I'm sorry I thought I could replace you," She whispered.


	19. Chapter 19

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 19  
_A/N: I always try to respond to my reviews if there's something that they're saying where they disagree with my writing or they're confused about something, but I recently got an anonymous review in which they said I made Puck out to be a "rapist". I wasn't say that he spiked the punch in order to get her wasted. I was saying it like he was the one to put the alcohol in there for her. Also, Puck walked out on Rachel, telling her it was over because of her make-out with Finn. Therefore, it was Rachel's fault. But I think we all know how Rachel never blames herself for anything she's done wrong, especially when it comes to cheating, which is why I wrote in Rachel's anger at Puck for kissing Brittany, despite the fact that she and Puck were already broken up when the kiss happened. If you'd waited, like, a chapter, you would see exactly what was going through Rachel's mind and who the blame was on. And Rachel really was more upset that he kissed Brittany than anything. _**

"Why'd you forgive her so easily?" Santana asked after Glee as the girls sat in Rachel's room with Quinn as they waited for Brittany to get out of practice. "She made out with Puck and she slept with him," She said.

"Because technically, Puck broke up with me. I'm the one responsible for the break-up. I'm the one who destroyed our relationship because I made out with Finn," Rachel explained. "What I was angry about was the fact that Puck had to pick Brittany, knowing that would hurt me more than anything because we're such good friends," She explained. "The only reason I'm really angry is because right after he broke up with me, he not only made out with another girl-which I could understand, because he was hurt-but he had to sleep with her, too," Rachel said.

"I can get that," Quinn nodded. "You're taking responsibility for the break-up, which is good because, really, Puck wouldn't have done anything with Britt if you hadn't kissed Finn," She explained quickly as Santana glared at her. "But you're hurt that he acted as if your relationship was meaningless. My concern here is the fact that you're planning on using Finn in order to make Puck jealous and angry," She said.

"He deserves that much," Santana said. "He's an ass hole. He used Britt!" She declared.

"Because I made out with Finn!" Rachel protested. "But I am most definitely not using Finn," She shook her head. "I've been there and I've done that. He's not worth it. I can do better than that-I have done better. Do you know how hard it was not to look at Puck during that song today? It was nearly impossible. I think I just need to sit down and talk to Puck about everything, because while he was wrong, so was I. Anyways, you can't just blame one person for a break-up. It's both person's faults. It had to be that way. It's the only way that makes sense. After all, just look at Mike and Brittany. We all know Brittany likes to move fast and Mike was going slow. So Brittany felt like he wasn't into her so she cheated. It's all a domino affect," She shrugged.

"I really never thought Puck would do that to you. I mean, even if he was drunk and angry. After all, he loved you. That much was clear from when you guys dated the first time," Santana said.

"Why do you think we never ended up together when I told the truth about the baby?" Quinn asked.

"I never actually really thought about that..."Rachel admitted. "But it doesn't matter what he did or didn't do. His feelings didn't matter and my feelings don't matter. We need to talk this through, alright? It's the only way we're not going to hate each other forever. And I would hate for us to hate each other forever, because we were best friends..."

"Well, then I've got a little surprise for you!" Santana smirked. She stood up slowly and smoothed out the hem of her short, bodice mini skirt as she walked towards the doorway to Rachel's bedroom. Rachel's eyes widened as Santana asked for Quinn to get off her ass and come with her without any words at all. Quinn shrugged at Rachel as she stood up and approached Santana, sliding out of the door with her without a word before it opened all the way and allowed a new person to enter the room. Of course, that person was none other than Noah Puckerman. Rachel's eyes widened as she immediately went to check her hair which she'd put in a sloppy bun at the top of her head. Then she glanced down at her long, plaid pajama pants and the baggy tee shirt she was wearing with them.

"Hey, Rachel," He whispered, his head low, eyes looking anywhere but at her.

"Hey," She said softly.

"I'm sorry about Brittany," He whispered, leaning against the wall next to the door. "I never should have done that, and I'm not going to make any excuses for it," He said.

"Why are you sorry? I cheated on you with Finn and you were upset. It wasn't like you cheated on me. All you did was break up with me and leave in anger," She shrugged.

"You kissed Finn because you were drunk and it was truth or dare. If anything, I should be mad at him because he was the ass hole who dared you to kiss him. And I should have listened to you when you said you'd never drunk before. I mean, I convinced you to try alcohol and you ended up wasted." He said, lowering his head and shaking it slowly.

"Listen, why are you arguing about who's fault it is? Do you want to take all the blame?" She asked. He shook his head. "And I don't want the blame," She said. "And you don't blame me, do you?" She asked. He nodded. "Then let's just say it was all Finn's fault," She decided with a smile. He smiled back at her. "Or we could blame it on the alcohol," She winked.

"Hey, so we're good?" He asked.

"You're Noah Puckerman," She whispered.

"I'm not Noah Puckerman without you," He smiled that grin that could only be described as the Rachel Berry grin. Because she was the only one who could get him to smile like that.

"Really?" She asked, looking up at him with a hopeful expression taking over her face. He nodded at her as he stood up straight, pushing away from the wall and opening his arms to her.

"Bring it," He said. And she did just that.


	20. Chapter 20

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 20  
A/N: _Okay so apparently Rachel and Puck's break up was confusing...they were both pretty much over reacting, but the thing is, when you really care about a person, if they kiss another person for ANY reason at all, you consider it cheating when you're dating. Puck got mad when she kissed Finn so he said it was over, not meaning it, and then left with Brittany who was drunk and they kissed and had sex. If it hadn't been for that hook-up, they never would have broken up, but Puck felt guilty about it. Now, they're back together because they realized they were over reacting. _**

* * *

"Puckleberry confused me," Brittany said at lunch the next day.**_  
_**

"Breakfast confuses you," Santana snapped.

"Well, sometimes it's sweet and sometimes it's salty," She frowned. "Like, what if I have eggs? What is it then?" She asked.

"Britt," Rachel shook her head. "This is why I can't be mad at you," She explained.

"Can somebody please explain to me what the hell happened with this whole Puckleberry mess?" Quinn asked.

"Okay, either Brittany or Finn dared me to kiss Finn-nobody's really sure which one it was..."Rachel shook her head as she trailed off.

"And they got into a very heated make out session," Santana teased.

"Screw you!" Rachel snapped.

"You wish," Santana winked.

"I hate you," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Not what you were screaming last night," She grinned playfully.

"Shut up!" Rachel giggled.

"I'm so confused!" Brittany exclaimed.

"Ugh," Rachel groaned. "Okay, I was dared to kiss Finn and Puck was jealous of it, okay?" She asked.

"He over reacted and dumped her before storming out," Santana added.

"And kissed me!" Brittany grinned happily.

"She's lucky she's so dumb," Rachel muttered.

"Anyways, Puck and Brittany hooked up and that was that," Santana concluded.

"And then they got back together last night?" Quinn asked.

"I'm just wondering...did you guys do it?" Santana asked.

"What the hell? That's personal!" Rachel blushed.

"Oh my god, you slept with him? God, I have so much to tease her," Santana sighed.

"If it weren't for sex, we wouldn't get jewelry. Stop letting him know we want it as much as guys do! He'll spill the secret!" Quinn warned.

"Oh, what do you know about sex? You've had it once," Rachel snapped.

"And how many times have you had it?" She shot back.

"One more than you," Rachel shrugged.

"Hey, Rach? Can you come over tonight?" Rachel turned around and smiled at Puck.

"Depends on what it's for," Rachel frowned.

"What do you think it's for?" He rolled his eyes.

"What do _you _think I think it's for?" She asked.

"Sex," He responded.

"Exactly," She made a face.

"I thought you could start working with Raquel for her-"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Rachel smiled.

"But, hey-if you still want to do that when you're done, I'm not saying no," He grinned.

"Aren't you on probation?" She asked.

"Aren't you?" He shot back.

"I thought I got off last night," She smirked.

"I hate you," He said.

"You love me," She grinned.

"True," He agreed.

"I know," she said happily as she turned back around to face her friends.

"OH! Who's that sexy beast?" Brittany asked excitedly.

"Um, Britt?" Santana frowned, studying the girl.

"You're looking in a mirror..."Quinn trailed off.

"Huh?" Brittany asked.

"You're looking at a pretty moving picture of yourself that moves with you," Rachel explained.

"Oh, alright!" She nodded.

"Hey, look it's sluts-r-us," the girls all shared an eye roll as they looked up to see Finn Hudson behind them.

"What do you want?" Rachel asked.

"You," He shrugged.

"You wish," She rolled her eyes.

"Go screw yourself, Hudson," Santana growled.

"Control your whore-mones, slut," Finn snapped.

"Get lost, Finn," Rachel sighed as she turned back to her friends.

"Do you guys realize this has been the most random lunch ever?" Quinn asked.

"It's a bit of a filler," Santana frowned.

"I sense some drama coming up next," Brittany said, which was probably the smartest thing these guys had ever heard her say before.

"I'm sorry, did Brittany just say something smart? And probably right?" Rachel asked.

"Shut up, Berry," Brittany giggled.

"Anyways, let's pray that we don't get any drama? That party caused a boat load of it," Rachel shrugged. "And we have regionals coming up," She added.

"Speaking of-have you seen that Jesse St. James kid? He's supposedly the star of Vocal Adrenaline," Santana said.

"And?" Quinn wondered.

"He's smoking," She shrugged.

"Jesse?" Rachel asked. "He looks like a vampire," She shrugged.

"How do you know him?" Santana asked, whirling around to face her.

"I used to date him," Rachel admitted. "Freshman year," she said softly.

"I thought Puck was your first boyfriend," Quinn wondered.

"That's what he thinks and we're not going to tell him otherwise," Rachel informed.

"Who dumped who?" Santana asked.

"I broke up with him," Rachel told them.

"What the hell? Girl's psycho!" Santana announced.

"He was a jerk," Rachel shrugged.

"But, Finn told everyone he was your first kiss," Brittany said.

"Don't remind me!" Quinn snapped.

"He thinks that. Nobody knew about Jesse," Rachel told them.

"I'm so shocked right now," Santana said blankly.

"But, we should go check out Vocal Adrenaline's rehearsal today." Rachel said.

"You promised Puck you'd go see Raquel," Quinn reminded her.

"I'll do that after. We'll skip out of school during last block, because that's when Vocal Adrenaline starts to practice," Rachel explained.

"And come into Glee late?" Santana asked.

"Yup," Rachel nodded.

"Berry's bad ass," Quinn observed.

"You didn't notice that from her choice in boyfriends?" Santana asked.


	21. Chapter 21

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 21  
A/N; Currently watching Step Up 2-which Glee cast member was in that movie? **

Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, and Quinn Fabray giggled as they entered the top balcony in the seats of the theater at Carmel high. Rachel shushed them quickly, eyes focused on Shelby Corcoran, the faculty advisor who had lead Vocal Adrenaline to an undefeated three year streak. This year, Jesse's senior year, would be a victory lap to him as they won their fourth year straight at regionals, carrying on to Nationals which would be yet another victory for them. Especially with the beautiful, Broadway legend as their director. Rachel found it easier too look at Shelby than to look at Jesse, though, because they'd broken up mostly because of his desire to keep moving forward. Not because she didn't like him.

"Damn, Rach-the bitch looks like you," Santana observed, watching as Shelby worked with her group on their Lady Gaga number. She stopped them, stepping onto the stage while ranting on about theatrically to the group. Rachel could just tell that she was going to sing, and she was sure it was going to be a Barbra number. She was just a little bit shocked that Shelby had decided to sing _Funny Girl. _

But as soon as her voice reached Rachel, she remembered that night when she and Jesse had taken all of her memory boxes from the garage and brought them to her room. They'd found a tape with her mother singing on it, and Rachel had been using that voice as a key for who her mother had to be. And listening to Shelby sing, Rachel realized who her mother was. She slowly stood up and made her way towards the stage as slowly and quietly as she could. She stood in front of the stage, staring up at Shelby nervously.

"Can I help you?" Shelby wondered, smiling down at her, with Rachel's smile. Rachel could see the similarities that Santana had seen between the two. Their hair, their eyes, their noses, their mouths. They were practically identical.

"My name is Rachel Berry, and I'm your daughter," She blurted out.

* * *

"Where's Rachel?" Puck asked as Santana, Brittany, and Quinn walked into Glee about five minutes late.

"At Carmel," Quinn said.

"What's she doing there?" Kurt asked. "Oh my god, please tell me she's not considering leaving us for Vocal Adrenaline because she broke up with Puck!" He panicked.

"We're back together!" Puck snapped at him. "What's she doing there?" He asked.

"She's not coming today, Mr. Shue," Santana explained, ignoring Puck's protests. "She found out some pretty exciting news, and she's not gonna be able to make it today," She sighed, shaking her head. "Puck, she said she's sorry but she can't help out with Raquel tonight either," she said.

"What the hell is going on? What could she have possibly found out that's making her bail on her commitments? That's not the Rachel I know. That isn't her," Puck said, standing up and staring at Santana.

"She found her mom!" Quinn snapped. "Okay? Is that a good enough reason for her to miss one practice and cancel one date? She found her mom, and she'd like to spend some time wither her!" Quinn shouted.

"Wait...hold up, she found her mom? I thought she was Carmel?" Mr. Shue asked, holding his hands up to stop the fight that was about to start between Rachel's three best friends and her over protective boyfriend.

"Shelby Corcoran? The director of Vocal Adrenaline over at Carmel? She's Rachel's mother," Quinn sighed, turning around to star at their own Glee club director with a worried look in her eyes. "Rachel decided she was going to stay with Shelby while they practiced and get to know her afterwards. She's got a lot of questions," She fretted as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Rachel's mother is the faculty advisor for Vocal Adrenaline, the Glee Club at Carmel High School? The school that's been undefeated for years and has that incredibly sexy and talented senior, Jesse St. James as their star?" Kurt asked, his jaw dropping. "Shelby Corcoran, the Broadway legend who stared in _Wicked _and _Rent? _That's who Rachel's mother is?" Kurt asked in amazement.

"That's it," Mercedes shook her head. "We're screwed-royally. Rachel's gonna switch sides in an instant and we've lost our key talent. She's gonna blow us out of the park, especially with a set of male vocals like Jesse St. James to match her own pipes. We don't even stand a chance anymore," Mercedes sighed as she leaned back in her chair in a sign of defeat.

"Rachel's not switching sides! She wouldn't do that to us. She thinks of us as her family-the friends she finally has. She'd never leave us for some new bunch of shiny new toys that have a little more talent. She'd rather be the star here and train us all to use our talents the way she knows we can. She has respect for us and she'd never leave us," Puck defended her.

"Wait a second-I want to go back to this St. James kid-what's so special about him? What do you mean-a set of male vocals to match her own pipes? Aren't I good enough with Rachel to help us win? What makes Jesse better than me?" Finn asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion as he studied the girls who were standing before him. They all looked away, not quite sure how to answer this question without making Finn pissed off or revealing Rachel's secret to Puck and the rest of the group around them.

"Jesse St. James is the hottest guy to ever grace the Show Choir world. He's like a better looking Edward Cullen kind of guy. Every single girl in the Show Choir world wants to get with him-and most of the guys as well," Kurt explained. "And he's got this incredible voice. UCLA is already scouting him, but he's putting them on hold to audition for NYADA. Or, he might just go straight to Broadway. He's _that _good. And besides that? He's a senior who's been taking voice lessons for years and has connections with everybody who matters," Kurt sighed.

"Are you in love with him or something?" Brittany wondered. "Anyways, he was there, too, and he was all surprised when he saw Rachel. Speaking of which, didn't she tell us something about him? She knew him or something, didn't she? I can't remember exactly what it was that she said...but she somehow knew him already when she got there," Brittany explained, only stopping and shutting up when Santana and Quinn each elbowed her on opposite sides of the stomach. "OW! What did I do wrong this time?" She wondered.

"Wait a second-Rachel knows this Jesse kid? And you left here there with him, without any notice at all-who drove there?" Puck asked. It was a stupid question. Rachel didn't have her license. She didn't have a car. The answer was only going to upset him more than he already was. "Santana?" He asked. She shook her head, pointing at Quinn. "And you guys left her there, without a ride home?" He asked in amazement. "Please tell me you at least figured out how she was getting home before you left her there with that St. James' kid!" Puck snapped.

"Calm down! She was staying to get to know her mother, okay? She was staying because after sixteen long years, Rachel's finally getting to meet the woman who gave birth to her. She's finally going to know the truth about why her mom gave her up. Her mom's giving her a ride home, clearly," Quinn rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she glared at the mohawked boy. "She wasn't staying so she could cheat on with some pale skinned loser-no matter how good looking he might be. She was not staying there for Jesse St. James. She was staying for her mother and for herself, alright? Do you really think she'd be so willing to throw away the relationship you two just got back for some guy?" SHe wondered.

"And trust me, even if she was debating on leaving you for this Jesse kid, I can guarantee that you're better in bed," Santana muttered. "That kid couldn't dance for shit," She shrugged when everybody looked at her. "Am I the only one who knows that dancers are good at sex?" She wondered in amazement. "Whatever, then," She rolled her eyes. "But, Jesse was a scrawny little idiot. You'd be able to take him in a fight any day, if it came down to that, but I doubt that it ever would. Rachel loves you, alright? Jesse doesn't mean anything to her-she probably just met him one day at the sheet music store she goes to all the time, alright?" She informed Puck, sharing a look with Quinn.

"Oh, wait a second!" Brittany said brightly. "I remember what Rachel told me about Jesse now!" She said happily, skipping towards an empty chair and Quinn and Santana lunged for her to shut her up. She ignored their loud protests, trying to cover her own voice and just spoke up louder. "Rachel was saying that Jesse was her ex boyfriend. They dated last year and broke up right before summer or something like that. She was saying that nobody knew-not even Puck and Finn, because they both through that they were her first when it came to relationships and stuff like that," She said, scanning the faces from Puck's, to Finn's, to Santana's, to Quinn's, and then to the rest of the glee club's.

"Puck, please don't start over reacting!" Santana said, lunging towards Puck and placing her arms over his shoulders, trying to keep him from walking. He pushed her away and kept walking from the room. "PUCK! PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!" She shouted, but he was already gone. She shared a look at Quinn who nodded and took off running after him. She turned towards Brittany. "You freaking broke them up because you slept with him. Now you're going to freaking do it again because you can't keep a secret for your best friend? What the hell, Britt-I always thought you were sweet and naive, but you're not. You're more vindictive than I am, and that's pretty hard to do," Santana said bitterly at her blonde ex-best friend before running again Quinn and Puck.


	22. Chapter 22

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 22  
A/N: Shout out to all those people who got my question right-way too many to mention you all! But it was Harry Shum JR, who plays Mike. Trivia time: What flavor slushy did Puck give Rachel in my one shot-Slushy? And Shout out to ShortLittlePixie for finally coming over to the dark side (puckleberry) WE HAVE GRAPE SLUSHIES! **

"Don't do something drastic," Quinn was in the middle of begging Puck when Santana finally found them by his truck. "She dated Jesse. So what? They broke up and she picked you," Quinn said. "She's at Carmel right now to see her mother, not for him, alright? Please don't do anything drastic," She pleaded.

"Fine, I'll drop it," Puck sighed as he climbed into his truck. "Tell her to come over later, though? I'm babysitting all night, if she gets a chance to come," He suggested as he closed the door behind him, started up the load truck and drove away from the school parking lot and turned towards his house, racing off in a way that was going completely against the speed limit.

He really was upset and hurt about the Jesse thing, but he loved Rachel too much to do anything that could risk losing her. So, he decided that it would be best to just allow the girls to feel as if they'd settled everything and saved Puckleberry for the school. He drove as fast as the old, rusted truck would allow, trying his hardest just to reach his house and leave all of his problems behind him. He knew it was a ridiculous plan, but it was the only one he had. He sighed as his phone beeped, as soon as he reached his house. He grabbed it from the cup holder nearest him as he pulled into the driveway and stared at the screen, smiling slightly as his anger began to fade. It was a text from Rachel, and the words showed that she cared.

**Rachel: Hey baby, is it okay if I come over around five? I'm sure the girls told you all about what happened at Carmel so I won't get into it. I love u, bye! **

He grinned as he climbed out of his truck and entered the house, walking up towards his bedroom without saying anything to his mother or sister who were in the kitchen making dinner when he passed. He dropped himself onto his bed and placed an arm over his eyes, closing his eyes as he tried to drift off to sleep, thinking solid thoughts that were solely about Rachel Berry, the beautiful girl that, by some miracle, had become his girlfriend. Sure, his jealousy sometimes got the best of him, but that was only because he was so afraid of losing her. He loved her, and nothing would ever change that. That was probably why, when he finally fell asleep, all of his dreams were about her beautiful face and her amazing voice.

* * *

"Brittany, why are you trying to break Puckleberry up?" Santana wondered as she stared at the blonde haired cheerleader sitting across from her at Breadstix.

"Yeah, I thought they were your favorite couple?" Quinn wondered, leaning forward on the table, her head propped up on her hands that were elevated by bent elbows that were resting on the table.

"Rachel doesn't deserve him," Brittany glared ahead. "And I'm tired of you all thinking I'm some sort of stupid idiot all the time. I'm actually very smart. I mean, look at all the chaos I've managed to cause for them so far. And now with the Jesse factor? It's all over. Puck's gonna either dump her sorry ass or the bitch is gonna get mad at him and dump him. Either way, I win," She shrugged.

"Wait, hold up-you like Puck?" Santana blurted. "I thought you liked Mike? I'm so confused right now...and you know what? None of that's really important," She sighed, shaking her head. "After all, you should respect that Rachel and Puck are together. I thought you and Rachel were friends, after all? And besides that, if two people are happy together, you should leave them alone," Santana frowned, shaking her head. She was disgusted with her best friend's behavior, and couldn't believe that she'd ever considered Brittany to be a loyal friend.

"Jealousy is a sin, you know," Quinn said. "So, right now we've got lying, sex, stealing, and jealous. Damn girl, you're loading right up on those freaking sins," Quinn said, shaking her head. She was also disgusted with it, especially since she'd been one of the ones who had believed Brittany's little dumb blonde act where she'd played out the innocent, sweet, loyal friend so well. It sickened Quinn to know that she'd fallen for the trap and sat by without doing anything as Brittany's 'stupidity' had brought many people unhappiness, causing Brittany nothing short of happiness for herself. She'd known what she was doing all along, and that was a little scary. It meant she could destroy Santana and Quinn in a second.

"Hey, princess?" Brittany asked. "Just because you count other people's sins, it doesn't make you a saint," She said bitterly.

"And jealous is a disease, blondie," Santana said, standing up and helping Quinn out of the booth. "So get well soon, bitch," She growled as she wrapped arms with Quinn and started from the restaurant.

How dare Brittany do such horribly terrible things to her? How dare she pretend to be friends with Rachel just to try and steal her boyfriend? And that's when Santana realized that Brittany must have been the one to upload the pictures, getting Santana kicked off of the Cheerios and replacing her as captain. Brittany had been the one to try and ruin Santana and Puck's little arrangement. And Brittany...had told Rachel about Quinn and Puck.

"That bitch! It was her all along. She's such a conniving little bitch. What the hell? She's worse than I am! She's more vindictive and a bigger bitch than me!" Santana swore. "She was talking to Rachel before Rach told Finn the truth...she was the one prompting me to get more clingy with Puck, saying that we belonged together. And Matt told me he didn't know how those pictures got online. She hacked his account so she could get me and Rachel kicked off of the Cheerios. She was the one who dared Rachel, wasn't she? And she let everyone blame Finn!" Santana realized.

"San? Does it really matter anymore? We figured it all out. All we need to do is warn Puck so he doesn't have a freak attack about everything," Quinn said. Of course, she knew that Rachel would have two reactions to this whole thing. She'd confront Brittany and tell her _Yeah, I know he's cute, but he's mine so touch him and I'll kill you. _Or she'd flip out on Puck about the whole thing and tell him _Fine! Go be with that ugly girl-you don't deserve me-I'm too good for you. _There was no good solution in Rachel's eyes, no matter what she and Santana did to try and help. "It's okay, San. None of it matters, because Brittany's just a conniving bitch and if Puck and Rachel don't realize that, then they don't belong together," She said.

* * *

"Hey," Rachel whispered as she walked into Puck's bedroom and bent down close to his face. "Wake up," She said softly, kissing him softly on the lips.

"Mhmmm-don't stop," He whispered, reaching out for her and pulling her onto the bed besides him, pulling her close.

"So, my mom made me tell her all about you," She whispered to him before allowing him to kiss her again.

"What did you say?" He wondered, burying his face in her hair.

"Not to brag...but that I think we look cute together," She told him.

"Well, that's true," He shrugged and she loved the feeling of his strong arms rising around her.

"You know, sometimes I wish I could read your mind so I could find out how you really feel about me," She sighed.

"All you have to do is see how jealous I get." He told her softly.

"What's that mean?" She asked.

"Jealousy is a sign that you really love a person."

"Well, I suppose a little jealousy is healthy in a relationship."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"After all-it's nice to know that somebody cares."

"Do you get jealous?"

"Of course I do. Because I don't want anybody else to have you." She informed him.

"Are you still jealous because of Brittany?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm jealous. Why? Because she's beautiful, and I'm well...me."

"You're beautiful," He whispered.

"Am I really?" She asked.

"Can I ask you something?" He blurted.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Who's Jesse St. James?"

"They told you."

"Brittany did."

"I asked her not to!"

"Why'd you guys break up?"

"I dumped him, alright?"

"That makes me feel better."

"I wouldn't want to go back to him anyways. He was talented, but you're better looking."

"I better be."

"And you're arms are much nicer."

"I'm a bad ass."

"I know."

"Can I show you how bad ass I can be?"

"Noah!"

"Please?"

"I guess."

"Yes?"

_"Yes."_

"YES!"


	23. Chapter 23

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 23**

"I want us to have a cute, long relationship where everybody's all like 'damn, they're still together', you know what I mean?" Rachel asked early the next morning as she woke up wrapped in Puck's arms, wearing only one of his tee shirts, which fell to the middle of her thighs.

"And if I could take one thing away from us, it would be distance," he muttered, pulling her closer to him.

"There isn't any distance," She mumbled, closing her eyes and enjoying being close to him.

"That's my point," He whispered into her hair. "We should probably start getting ready for school," He sighed a few moments later. But he didn't make a motion to move.

"Wait-what? What time is it?" Rachel panicked, pushing away from him and searching for her phone. She glared at the clock by his bed and swore. Her dads were going to kill her. They were going to murder her. "Finally," She exclaimed as she found her phone. She sighed in relief when she saw the messages from Santana.

**San: I'm covering for you with your dad. Ignore the calls and VM's-I've got it all handled. **

"Remind me to thank Santana when I get to school," Rachel said as she stood up and took off Puck's shirt.

"Damn, girl-you're beautiful," Puck observed, propping himself up on his elbow as he stared at his naked girlfriend standing before him. "You're so damn sexy," He sighed as he slowly stood up and walked towards her, placing his hands on her hips as he pulled her close.

"Noah, no," She sighed, shaking her head as she pushed him away and picked up the the clothes she'd worn the day before. She slipped them on slowly. "We have to get to school, alright? So let's just get ready," She begged, grabbing her phone and shooting off a text from Santana, asking her to bring her an outfit to wear for the day. She tossed her phone aside and walked towards the mirror hanging up in Puck's room by his dresser.

"Do we have to?" He sighed. "Can't we just skip school?" He asked, taking her hand and turning her around, pulling her close and kissing her again. A long, hard, passionate kiss that made her think about skipping school.

"We have to go to school, Noah," She sighed. "I can't skip. My dads would really kill me if I did that," She sighed as her phone went off-repeatedly. She sighed as she rolled her eyes, walking towards the bed and picking up her phone. "Shush-it's my dads," She said, answering the phone slowly. "Hello?" She asked, putting on her most cheerful voice.

"Where are you?" Hiram asked.

"I'm at Santana's, daddy," Rachel said. "She told me she told you guys," She frowned, making her voice sound confused. Her parents hadn't sent her to acting classes for nothing, after all.

"Is that why you just sent Santana a text asking her to bring you something to wear for school?" He asked.

"What?" Rachel's face fell.

"Where are you, Rachel?" Hiram asked. "And do not lie to me," He said.

"I'm at Noah's," She whispered.

"And you lied to your father and I about this because?" He asked.

"Because..."She trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Give me the phone," Puck said, reaching for it. Rachel handed it to him without a word. "Hello, Mr. Berry?" He smiled as soon as he got the phone. "I'm sorry about keeping Rachel-she was originally going to sleep at Santana's but she stopped by to help me babysit Raquel because my mom had to work late and just fell asleep when she was waiting for Santana to come pick her up," He explained in the most polite matter Rachel had ever seen from him before. "Thank you for understanding and not being angry with her-I'd hate for her to get into trouble because she was helping me out," He said. "Yup, you can be sure I'll tell you! Yes, I would love that! Friday night sounds perfect, Mr. Berry-I'll see you then. Goodbye," He said as he hung up and handed the phone back to her.

"What the hell?" Rachel blurted.

"You dad said you could stop by to get clothes before school, so let's leave now," Puck said, tugging a shirt on over his jeans and walking from the room.

"What the hell is going on Friday night?" Rachel asked as she followed him.

"We're having dinner at your house with your fathers," He explained.

"And what the hell is up with my dads listening to you instead of me?" She snapped.

"I'm obviously more trust worthy for adults," He said innocently.

"Screw you!"

"I already gave you that option, remember?"

"Screw yourself!"

"But where's the fun in that?"

"I hate you," She sighed as they exited the house.

"Love you too," He grinned as he opened her truck door and helped her climb inside. She glared at him as he came around his own side and started driving towards her house. "And you really should learn to make sure you're sending your texts to the right people. I might not be able to cover for you all of the time," He said in mock seriousness.

"Screw you!" She snapped.

"Didn't we go over this already?" He asked, grinning happily at her. "Anyways, it really is important that you pay attention to that because I don't need your dads putting me on their shit list. Them liking me could be very good for us," He said.

"What makes you say that?" She wondered.

"Oh, he said he and your dad are going out of town next weekend and asked if I'd stay with you so you weren't alone-and because he wanted to make sure there weren't any wild house parties," Puck scolded her with a playful grin.

"This is so dumb! How are you the responsible one?" Rachel pouted, crossing her arms.

"It must be the mohawk," Puck said seriously as he pulled into her driveway and got out of the car, walking to her side and opening her door. He helped her down and slapped her butt, grinning at her as she turned around and stared at him in shock and outrage. "Hurry that perky little ass up," He called as he got back into the truck.


	24. Chapter 24

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 24**

"Rachel, we need to talk," Rachel turned around, slightly surprised to see Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray standing behind her with their arms crossed and their hops cocked. They had serious expressions on their faces and they practically looked upset and angry. Rachel gulped. "No, not about something you did," Santana said quickly, shaking her head and her eyes widening as she tried to reassure the short girl that they were not mad at her. Rachel relaxed a little bit, closing her locker and smoothing the hem of her short, pink and orange tank top Go-Go-Girl styled dress that she'd paired with white high heeled boots that came to the middle of her calf. She raised her eyebrows at her friends, wondering what was up.

"It's Brittany," Quinn blurted.

"Oh my god! Is she okay?" Rachel worried, covering her pink lips with shock. "Oh, shit! Damn it, I can't believe I wasn't answering my phone last night. Tell me she's not hurt!" Rachel begged, placing a hand over her heart.

"Okay, first of all, cut it with the melodramatics," Santana rolled her eyes. "And secondly, Brittany's fine-she's just a bitch. She's been trying to break you and Puck up since you got together. She only pretended to be happy for you guys. She wants him for herself and she doesn't think you deserve him. She's the one who got us kicked of the Cheerios!" Santana declared.

"Brittany did that? _Brittany? _Are you kidding me? Stupid, dumb blonde Brittany Pierce who's helplessly naive and terribly innocent? The girl who can't do anything without some kind of stupid question to add in? You've got be kidding me!" Rachel declared, studying the faces of Quinn and Santana, trying to see some kind of break in the serious expressions that were covering their faces. They both shook their heads. "You're serious then?" She asked. They nodded. "I can't freaking believe that Brittany would do something so-"

"Bitchy?" Rachel jumped at the arrival of Brittany Pierce who was now standing behind the two taller girls, her arms crossed and her leg bent as her hip was cocked. She tilted her head to the side and smirked at Rachel. "Is that the word you're looking for? Evil? Cruel? Vindictive? Mean?" She asked with a smirk. "Surprised I knew all those synonyms? Yeah, little dumb blonde of a girl isn't that stupid after all. Sorry to break it to you," She shrugged. "And yeah, it's all true. I want to be with Puck and I don't think you deserve him. So, I've been trying to break you up. And you fell for my little act-guess I'm a better actress than I thought I was," She said, smiling a confident little smile as she flipped her blonde curls over her shoulder and turned around, walking away.

"She's a bitch!" Santana declared, watching as the girl swayed away, her Cheerio's uniform swaying to grab every single boy's attention in the school. She made a face as Brittany waved flirtasously as some of the football players and blew a kiss to them before bouncing over to the slushy carrying group, leaning against one of the guy's shoulders and whispering in his ear. "She's a slut too. God, how were we friends with her?" Santana asked, shaking her head slowly. She turned back to Rachel. "How angry are you?" SHe asked.

"Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die," Rachel shrugged, shaking her head. "It just makes you a smaller person. Forgiveness is a sign of being strong and being the bigger person, so I'm just going to forget our friendship, because it was clearly all fake, and move on. After all, I should be thanking her. If she hadn't pretended to like Puckleberry, you and I wouldn't be friends," Rachel shrugged.

"That's true! And you know what? I'm gonna grow up and not hold onto the grudge that she expects us to have against her," Santana said. "Let her be the bad guy, because I'm done being the school's biggest bitch," She shrugged carelessly.

And that was when the three hot girls were drenched with a slushy by the boy Brittany had just been flirting with.

"What the hell?" Quinn snapped, whirling around and the bright red slushy dripping from her long blonde hair. "And I just stopped packing extra clothes for school!" She whined, glared at the passing by football players.

"It's alright," Santana said with a fake, forced smile on her face. We're the bigger person, right? We don't care about what she did to us, because we're more mature than that. She's just trying to piss us off because she knows that we're better than her and we don't need to stoop to her level, right guys? We're not going to get mad, right?" She said with forced cheerfullness.

"No!" Rachel said, shaking her head. "Of course we're not going to get mad at her-that would be silly," She agreed with Santana. "Getting angry is just childish and foolish, isn't it?" She asked. At that exact time, Brittany skipped by, waving at the girls cheerfully with a confident smirk on her face as she graciously accepted a slushy from one of the football players that had drenched the girls and took a long sip, her eyes never leaving the red stained girls. "Then again, we are in high school, and that's all about getting even-totally different from getting mad, right?" She asked them.

"Oh, yeah, most definitely," Quinn nodded. Santana muttered her agreement. "Can you call Puck or somebody to get us something to wear? I can't walk around like this all day. I'm wearing a _white _shirt," Quinn exclaimed in panic as Rachel nodded, hooking arms with the girls and escaping into the nearest bathroom. Rachel took her phone out and fired off a text to Puck. "You're rounding us up sweatshirts, aren't you?" Quinn asked her. Rachel nodded with a proud smile on her face. "I think I've got some extra leggings in my locker from when I was still a cheerleader. Give Puck my combo and have him bring them for us," She nodded. "Wait-hold up a second-what the hell were those idiots doing wearing football jerseys during basketball season?" Quinn asked. It was so pointless that Rachel and Santana had to laugh with her.


	25. Chapter 25

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 25**

Rachel Berry smirked at her best friends Thursday morning. They all had their hair carefully styled to be loose around their face, acting like a lion's mane each in their own natural color and style-Santana's was a long, straight blow-out while Quinn's was a wavy mane surrounding her beautiful face, and Rachel's was a super curly mess that surrounding her face in a carefully tossiled style.

They were each in something they'd borrowed from Santana-meaning it was short and tight-with shoes stolen from Rachel's closet. Santana looked Victoria's Secret runway ready in her low rise boyfriend styled jeans that hugged her butt. She'd paired it with a tight fitting red razor back tank top and a beat up black leather jacket over it. Her shoes were the exact ones Rachel had worn when she'd decided to teach Finn about hairography Quinn seemed so sweet and innocent-in a sexy little way, wearing a tee shirt dress of Santana's-she said it had been a gift from her grandmother, because she never would have bought it herself-with small, multi-colored vertical stripes running across it to decrease the size of her stomach. And her shoes were low, neutral colored wedges with large, brightly colored flowers on the toe. And then there was Rachel, wearing one of Santana's favorite little spandex-y dresses with the tight fitting, pencil skirt at the bottom. It was strapless and a deep, dark, midnight black color with a red, cropped leather jacket over it. Her shoes were delicate heeled ankle boots.

"Ready to do?" She asked them, raising her perfectly plucked eyebrows. All of their make-up was done perfectly to match their clothes and bring out their own inner beauty. They were going to defeat Brittany with the only way they knew the most. They were going to take away her right as the sexiest, most popular girl in school and make all of the boys drool over them. And show Brittany that she couldn't have every single boy she wanted-especially Noah Puckerman, because he was taken-by the baddest bitch there was.

"Never been more ready!" Santana declared, her deep red lips forming a large, Chesire grin smile across her face. "Let's go," She said.

Rachel opened the door and the three girls walked in, side by side. And every single person in the hallway broke apart, splitting the way the Red Sea did. Rachel smirked at Quinn, knowing how much she'd missed that feeling.

"God-she's so fake even Barbie is jealous," Quinn observed as Brittany turned around and glared at them-but only for a second. Almost immediately after she flashed on a large, too fake smile and brightened her eyes, waving pleasantly at the three girls. Brittany, as always, was in her Cheerio's uniform with her white Nikes on-and that outfit was hot, but every guy at school was used to that. They were too focused on the three long legged, muscular, skinny girls.

Brittany bounced one and started walking towards the group of girls as they opened up Rachel's locker, Quinn and Santana flanked on either side of them.

"Were you just insulting me?" Brittany asked, her voice a completely fake and cheerful sound that was just a little too high pitched to be natural. Rachel smirked at Santana as she closed her locker and turned around to face Brittany.

"You are literally too stupid to insult," Rachel said cheerfully, with a bright, glossy smile flashed across her face.

"Did you just call me stupid?" Brittany snapped.

"OH, I'm sorry! Rachel, you hurt her feelings when you called her stupid!" Quinn said sarcastically. Brittany smirked at Rachel with a confident gleam to her eye.

"Oh, I'm sorry-I thought she already knew that," Rachel said with insincerity.

"Oh, sarcasm!" Santana said joyfully. "The ability to insult idiots without them realizing it. I'm fluent in that, actually-as well as three other languages. English, Spanish, and swearing," She said brightly.

"Don't forget bitch," Brittany muttered.

"In order for you to insult me, I would first have to value your opinion," Santana said brightly.

"I'm 100% awesome-and you know it," Brittany said, leaning in closer to them.

"Oh, wait-I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. Probably because I care so little that I almost passed out," Rachel shrugged, sharing a laugh with her best friends.

"She makes me want to kill myself and everybody around me," Santana said, high fiving Rachel.

"You are a waste of life and you should give up," Brittany snapped.

"Brittany!" Rachel gasped. "You are so pretty," She said sweetly. Brittany smiled. "Maybe you should eat your make-up so you can try to be pretty on the inside too?" She wondered, tilting her head to the side with a sweet smile.

"Nice insult Hannah Montana," She rolled her eyes.

"At least I've got friends. I mean, you're like Barbie. She's apparently so popular but you have to buy her friends and boyfriends," Rachel shrugged.

"Are you insulting me?" Brittany frowned, obviously confused. And she'd told them she wasn't stupid? As if!

"I'm not insulting you," Quinn denied. "We're just describing you!" She smiled.

"I hate you," Brittany said. "And I'm not wasting anymore time on you," SHe said, turning around and starting to walk away.

"We don't hate you!" Santana called to her.

"Not exactly, anyways," Quinn added.

"It's just that..."Rachel trailed off.

"If you were on fire?" Santana asked.

"And I had some water?" Quinn put in.

"I'd drink it," Rachel smirked.

"Berry?" The girls turned around to see Puck standing there with Mike and Matt.

"Yeah, baby?" Rachel asked with a smile.

"Well, first of all...damn, you should sleep at Santana's more often!" He said, scanning her over. Rachel grinned. "And secondly-what you just did there? That was totally bad ass," He said, opening his arms and smiling as Rachel hurried into his hug, allowing him to lift her slightly off the ground.


	26. Chapter 26

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 26**

"Santana? Can you come to the mall with me tonight?" The tall, curvy sixteen year old Latino turned around and raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm sorry, are you asking me on a _date?" _She wondered, puckering her full, dark red lips lined in a fresh coat of blood red liner.

"I need to get a suit, okay? And I don't know how to go and shop for stuff like that! I've never done that before, alright? So, can you come to the mall with me tonight and help me out?" Puck pleaded with her, his eyes begging. "I'm having dinner with Rachel's dads tomorrow night, alright?" he said, allowing her eyebrows to lower and her smile to turn into a smirk.

"You've met her dads before," Santana replied blankly, turning back around to face her locker. "And if you need help picking out a suit, don't you think it would be best to ask Rachel for help? And where the hell are you losers going in Lima that you need a freaking suit to wear for dinner? We're not exactly New York City," She said, slamming her locker shut and turning around to face him once again, her usual bitchy look on her face as she studied Puck's facial expression and his simple jeans that he was wearing with a plain tee shirt. Suits did not seem his style.

"It's the first time I'm going to be spending time with them as her boyfriend and I want to make a good impression, alright?" He confessed. "I don't want to mess this up with her. I'll admit it-I've screwed up most of the good things I've had in my life, but I don't want to mess things with her," He sighed, shaking his head. "And besides..."He leaned towards her and started to whisper. "I don't just want to get a suit-I'm picking out a present for Rach," He whispered.

"Oh my god-please, please, _please _tell me that you're not considering asking Rachel to marry you!" Santana hissed, her eyes growing wide. "You don't want to mess shit up with her? I'll give you a hint-don't do something stupid like that!" She warned.

"San, I'm not stupid," Puck shook his head. "Calm done, alright? I'm not going to ask her to marry me. I was planning on...well, I wanted to get her something to make up for being such a jerk to her with the slushies and all," He frowned, making a sheepish face as he shrugged.

"Aw, _sweety!" _Santana cooed, reaching out and wrapping an arm around him, giving him a sideways hug. "That has got to be the single most cutest, sweetest thing that you've ever done or said in your life!" She grinned. Puck blushed and tried to push her off, but she protested. "Oh, hell no-you're not getting out of this one easy. You're going to give me a hug and you're going to like it!" She teased him wrapping her arms around him to give him a full on hug. He shook his head and she felt his arms wrap around her in return for the hug.

"So you'll help me?" He asked when she finally let him go.

"Aw, hell, do I really have a choice? You're being sweet to my best friend because you're finally in love! How can I be mad at that?" She asked, shaking her head. "I'll meet you there in an hour and a half, alright?" She said, turning around, waving at him before walking towards the door, earning stares from every guy that she passed by. Santana grinned to herself, loving the attention as she left the school and started towards her car.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Rachel frowned as she crossed her arms around her chest in the car on the way to her house Friday night. She was dressed in that little black skirt Puck loved so much with a white tee shirt button down shirt and white knee shocks with black flats. Her hair was held back by a red plaid head band. Puck thought she looked adorable. "Seriously? What's wrong-you haven't talked to me since we left your house and it's driving me crazy." She frowned, turning around to stare at him. "What aren't you telling me?" She asked. And then she took a deep breath and asked the question she didn't want to ask. "Is this about you and Santana?" She frowned.

"Me and Santana?" He asked, his jaw dropping and his eyes widening. "Santana and I have been over for a long time. What does that mean, Rachel?" He asked her, tilting his head to the side.

"I saw the picture. Brittany sent me a-"

"Brittany? You're going to believe Brittany over me? Are you really going to believe that I would cheat on you, especially after what happened the last time? And that I'd do it with your best friend-or that Santana would actually do that to you?" He asked, turning his head sharply to face her.

"It's just...you were hugging you. And then I went to your house last night to pick up Raquel so we could plan her party and all, and your mom said you were going to the mall to meet some girl...and you told me you were going to Matt's to play Mario with Mike," Rachel sighed. "So it's a little fishy and all that you'd do that and lie about it. Why'd you lie about going to the mall with her, Noah?" She asked softly.

"Because...damn it, Rachel, I can't believe you're making me do this now," He swore as he pulled into her driveway, leaning across the car and opening the glove compartment, pulling out a long box wrapped carefully in gold paper with a large gold bow on it. "Here-that's why I went to the freaking mall with Santana, okay? That and so I could get this stupid outfit to impress your parents!" He snapped, tugging at the grey tie he was wearing with the dark grey slacks and the white button down he'd bought the night before. "Are you happy now? Well? Open it!" He glared.

Rachel softly fingered the wrapping paper as she slowly unwrapped the box. Then she took the lid off the box and pulled out the delicate gold chain with the tiny gold star attached, with the word _Puckleberry _written across the top and _Sweet Caroline _underneath that. She swallowed as she stared at it.

"Noah..."She whispered, holding the necklace as she stared at it. "It's...it's beautiful," She sighed.

"It reminded me of you-Santana helped me figure out what to get you. It's an apology, for all the slushy facials and torture I put you through," He shrugged, grinning sheepishly at her. "You want me to put it on you?" He asked. She nodded. He grinned as he reached across the car and took the chain, wrapping it around her neck and working with the clasp, quickly closing it with a soft click before kissing her neck.

"Hey, Noah?" Rachel spoke. "Are you really nervous about meeting my dads tonight? I mean, you've already met them, after all," Rachel said softly.

"I've never met them as your boyfriend before. I don't want them to think what everybody else does. That I'm not good enough for their daughter," He admitted softly.

"You are _more _than good enough for me," Rachel told him.

"I'm a Lima Loser. I've got a kid on the way. I'm dirt broke even though I work my ass off. I'm practically flunking out of school. I've got a permanent record as large as my criminal one and I'm on probation. How the hell does that make me good enough enough for you?" He asked.

"Because you've been trying to help Quinn with the baby since you found out about her. And you're dirt broke because you spend all of your money trying to help your mother support your little sister. You're flunking out because you spend all your time working and you're exhausted during school hours. And you've made mistakes, but that doesn't make you a Lima Loser. Noah Puckerman, you're exactly perfect," Rachel told him.

"I'm no good for you, Rachel. I'll be the first one to admit that," Puck sighed. "But I'll try my very best and I'll work my butt off to prove that I can be as good and pure as you. I want to be worthy of you. I want to deserve you. I don't want to know that I'm holding you back and that you deserve and can do much better than me. So, until that day, you're just going to have to bare with me as I try to figure it all out for both of us, alright?" He said, smiling over at her. "Because I do love you, Berry-and I'll love you until the day that I die," He promised.

"I love you, too, Noah. I always have and I always will. Now, now that that's settled, are you ready to go meet my big, bad, scary dads?" Rachel asked, smiling at him.

Puck leaned over and kissed her right on the lips; a long, sweet, slow kiss.

"Bring it," He smirked.


	27. Chapter 27

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 27**

Rachel was slightly amazed with the fact that her fathers both called Noah, Puck. It seemed to her that adults should call him by his first name-his real name. Yet, he'd asked them when he'd first gotten the nickname to respect that only his mother, his sister, and _his _Rachel was allowed to call him Noah. Nobody except for Rachel had found it odd that he'd referred to her as 'his' back when they were in kindergarden. Just as Rachel was the only one who noticed how even teachers came to respect that his name was Puck, not Noah, as all of his papers said. It was something she couldn't grow used to, because, to her Noah was a totally different person than Puck. Noah was sweet, loyal, and loving. Noah was her boyfriend and her best friend. Puck was the school's bad ass who was nothing more than a player and a bully. Puck would never give up his life to help raise Raquel like Noah did. Only Noah would choose Glee over football, declaring that he was picking Rachel over his popularity. Puck was not the sweet boy who Rachel had fallen in love with. In Rachel's eyes, Puck didn't really exist. He was just an act put on by Noah to protect himself from being hurt. After all, there had to be a reason that his father called him Puck and had never noticed a change in his name. Noah's biggest rival and enemy was his own father.

"How'd your mother doing, Puck," Hiram Berry asked the boy as the foursome sat at the table for dessert. The Berry's had been friends with the Puckerman's for a long time. Since before the divorce, actually. They'd met at the JCC and their parents had taken an immediate liking to one another. Puck and Rachel had been pushed together as a result of that. Not that either of them minded, really. They enjoyed one another's company. After Yetti had been left by Puck's jerk of a father-as her own father's called him-they'd become even closer to the family, doing their best to help out without wounding Yetti's pride. Because Yetti was a very proud woman and hated to be treated like a charity case.

"She's doing fine. She's typically taking the shifts during school hours, so she's there when Raquel gets home, but sometimes she takes up an extra shift or two, so I babysit for her. Rachel typically offers to help, though. She loves Raquel-and Raquel loves her. Rachel actually offered to plan Raquel's Bat Mitzvah for her," He explained.

"She's told us," Leroy nodded. "Rachel's very excited about that. And how about you? How are you doing, Puck," He asked, studying the boy. It was clear what the question was really about. He wasn't asking about how Puck was feeling. He wasn't asking how the boy was doing. He wasn't wondering about football or basketball or Glee club. He wasn't asking about Puck's family life. No, instead, Leroy was asking about Puck's school work.

Rachel's eyes widened in horror at the question-she knew that neither of her fathers was going to like Puck's answer. They would hate to hear that their A-plus daughter was dating a boy who could barely manage to pull a C in math. Who's over all grade point average was about half of Rachel's. She wasn't sure of Puck's actual marks, but from listening to him talk, he seemed to be failing and at threat of flunking out. And her fathers would tell them there was no relationship at all if they found that out. Grades were more important to them than anything. More important than even Rachel's own performances. That was why she worked so hard to keep her grades up. Performing and music was too important for her to give up because of a silly little C on a test. She needed to get straight A's or else she'd lose the only thing that mattered to her.

"Well, you two know me-I'm not all that great when it comes to...what did you call it, Mr. Berry? Structured education?" He asked. "But I think I'm doing all right-my music classes are really saving me from having terrible marks, because science and math are killing me," Puck admitted sheepishly. Rachel relaxed about, trying to hide her shock at how Puck had answered the question. of course, it wasn't a lie-she could tell that much just by looking at him. But she hadn't known that it was only two classes that were dragging him under. She hadn't known that he was excelling in his music courses. Actually, she'd only been vagually aware that he'd been taking Music Theory, learning how to write music. And that was only known to her because they happened to share that class with one another. She hadn't known that he was taken more than one class that was music centered. She took all of the other music classes and had never once seen him there.

"Well, everybody has their weaknesses!" Hiram said cheerfully, shrugging off Puck's answer.

Rachel was amazed. Her fathers must really like Puck to now care at all about his grades. To tell him that everybody had their weaknesses-something they didn't allow their own daughter to have. They'd drilled it into Rachel's head at an early age that perfection was the key to making it big. Rachel needed to have perfect grades. Perfect dance moves. Perfect manners. Perfect voice. Perfect everything. To be clear, Rachel Berry needed to be perfect. They'd caused a lot of the stress in her life. THey'd caused her small case of OCD she had when it came to performances. They were a large part of the reason that she'd had so few friends before this year. Yet, Rachel couldn't be resentful towards them. They'd raised her. They'd worked so hard to get her. THey'd given her every little thing she'd ever wanted out of life. They'd treated her like a princess, earning her the nickname Jewish-American Princess from Puck, who had later added on the My part to the nickname. When he grew and Rachel didn't, the Little part was added. It had only been recently that he'd decided to finish up the nickname by calling her Hot as well.

And that was how she'd become Noah Puckerman's "Hot Little Jewish American Princess". It hadn't all happened at once. She'd had to slowly earn each title. She'd had to slowly earn the right to get called something like that by him. Because Puck didn't give nicknames to people he didn't care about. He didn't give nicknames to people who weren't worthy of his time and patience. His nicknames needed to mean something when he gave them to people. They showed that he actually did care about the person who he was renaming in his own, clever way.

"Not Rachel," Puck shook his head. "She's absolutely perfect," He said, smiling right at her, as if he could read the thoughts that were running through her head.

"Rachel Berry! You haven't been bragging again, have you?" Hiram scolded her playfully.

"You always taught me to be the absolute best I could be," Rachel smiled at her father, reaching for Puck's hand under the table and giving it a tight squeeze. He'd successfully passed the biggest test they could give him, and managed to change the subject away from that and back onto all of their favorite topics. Rachel.

"By the way-where did you get that necklace? I don't think I've ever seen that before," Leroy asked Rachel, staring at the star on her neck. "Hiram, did we get her that?" He wondered.

"Actually, Puck bought it for me. He just gave it to me before we got here." Rachel said, fingering the gold star as she smiled down at it. Gold stars were, after all, her thing. It was cute that Puck had remembered that detail about her that so many people seemed to forget. "He said it reminded him of me-probably because he knows I'm destined to be a star one day," She teased her boyfriend as she smiled up at him.

"Well, her gold stars are a metaphor," Puck explained to her fathers. "A metaphor for _her b_eing a star," He told them carelessly as he leaned back in his chair. "And we all know that metaphors are important, right?" He asked, sharing a secretive smile with Rachel as she flushed red, remembering that dreaded English class back in sixth grade when everyone had officially decided that Rachel Berry was a freak for being so obsessed with metaphors and actually thinking that she was some kind of star, making her special compared to the other kids in the class.

Apparently not all of the students had thought that she was a freak for that though. And apparently not all of them had forgotten about her words and answer to the teacher's question that day. Puck remembered. And he'd never judged her for that silly remark she'd made. He'd never judged her for any of her foolish things that the other kids had thought made her weird or different. In fact, it seemed that he gave Rachel the most attention when she was being herself, standing out and shining brightly compared to all of the other children at school. She always had a way of standing out, but unlike the other kids who thought that made her a freak, Puck had always thought that it made her special. And he'd always made her feel good about her differences, no matter what everybody else said to her about it.

"Has she been forcing you to listen to her little rants about all of her english term obsessions?" Hiram said, teasing his daughter who mock-glared at him. "Has she told you the one about how there's nothing ironic about show choir yet? I believe she informed the Glee Club about that back when it first formed, didn't she?" He asked Leroy. Puck grinned at Rachel, giving her hand a squeeze as he winked at her, showing that he thought that her rants on her obsessions were nothing short of adorable. She smiled back at him, loving the way he made her feel. She loved how it always seemed as if he could read her mind. It just showed that their connection was deeper than anything they could have with anybody else.

"I wouldn't call her little speels rants, exactly. Just as I wouldn't call her opinions obsessions. I just think she's a very opinionated woman. She's something special, and I think I'm lucky that a girl as amazing as her gave me the time of day. After all, we all know that Rachel Berry is headed for things much bigger than Lima, right?" Puck asked her fathers with a grin on his face. "I don't know what I did in life to deserve a girl like her, but I know that no matter what she says, I don't actually deserve her. She can do better, but she chose me. And that means I'm going to have to spend forever trying to prove that I do deserve her and I am worthy of her-not for her sake, of course, but for my own. Because I don't ever want to hold her back from fulfilling her dreams." Puck explained to her fathers, his grin fading as his expression took on a more serious one. Rachel's laughter stopped and her face froze in its prior position as she turned to face Puck in shock.

"Noah, are you-"

"I'm just messing with you, Berry! God, what's with you and Santana thinking I'm gonna propose when we're in tenth grade?" Puck laughed and her fathers joined in.

"She needs to learn to relax," Hiram said. "She's very tense for a young girl. She works too hard," He shrugged. Puck murmured his agreement as Rachel pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. She hated being the butt of a joke. She hated when the laughter was at her own expense.

"Oh, lighten up, Berry!" Puck said, throwing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to him. "You know I wouldn't do something like that to you, and you know I'm just teasing you." He said, kissing her on the cheek gently. "I love you, you know that, right?" He whispered into her ear, causing her to blush at the intimate moment they were having with her fathers so close. Of course, Puck didn't care.

"Why don't we clean this mess up? You two can go in the living room to have some time alone. We understand we're stealing away your Friday night," Leroy said, standing up. "We'll join you in a little while." He nodded as he started to clear the dishes. Hiram stood up and started to help him. Puck grinned as he stood up, pulling Rachel to her feet and lifting her up, bridal style, as he carried her towards the living room, humming "Here Comes The Bride" as she sat in his arms with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed angrilly over her chest.

"This isn't funny, you know?" She asked him. "It's really not and I can't believe you're acting like this when my fathers are in the other room. I thought you were worried about impressing them? Making jokes about marriage is not going to impress them, Noah. It's going to make them think that you're trying to move too fast and they're not going to like our relationship. You really should think things through before you start your crazy little jokes about things, because they aren't always taken the way you meant for them to be taken, you know? I really don't understand why everything is such a big joke to you all of the-"But she never got to finish her lecture. Puck set her to the ground and kissed her, long and hard, interrupting her.

"I'm sorry, were you saying something important? Because all I saw was your lips moving and I really couldn't resist kissing such perfect features," He replied, sitting down on the couch and pulling her down onto his lap. "Stop worrying about your dads, okay? I've found that they don't think any different of me now that I'm your boyfriend than they did when I was your best friend. They don't think we're having sex and we don't need to give them that impression, alright? They can believe that you're still a lovely little virgin-in fact, I think I'll believe that too, because it was lots of fun, taking that from you," He grinned at her playfully as he spoke to her. She scowled as she shoved him playfully. "You know you want to laugh. You think that I'm charming," He teased. "You're my hot little Jewish American princess, and I'm your prince Charming!" He said happily.

"Noah, shut up. You're acting like a ridiculous child and I find it rather unattractive. It's making me regret picking Finn over you," Rachel told him, but he knew she was just playing with him. Still, he could always play back with her. That was where all the fun was, anyways.

"Alright. Would you like me to call him and tell him to come over? I think I've put your dads in a good enough mood that they'll be fine meeting Finn, even though we both know that they hate him," Puck said, standing up and starting to walk away.

"NO!" Rachel shouted. "Don't leave! I was just kidding!"

"Say you love me more than Finn Hudson," Noah grinned, not turning around. "Say that I'm much hotter than him and far better looking. And a way better kisser. I need to make sure you understand that I'm a lot better than him. And I need to know that you love me and appreciate me more than him," He said as he turned around at her, his famous puppy dog pout in place already as he lowered his gaze to the ground.

"Noah Puckerman, of course I love you more than I love Finn Hudson, because I don't love him at all. He's gross and unappealing. He's not even hot, so there's no contest for whether you're hotter or not-but, you do happen to be the hottest guy at school, in case you were wondering. And yes, you are a better kisser than him, just as you happen to be better at everything than him. I love and appreciate you more than him because he's nothing more than a tall, sloppy giant who cheats of a girl who thinks Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus are the same person," Rachel grinned at him.

"That's my girl! That's what I like to hear," Puck grinned as he walked back to the couch and dropped down besides her, pulling her on top of him, kissing her hard. "Damn, I wish your dads weren't here..."He said, his hands playing on top of her shirt, right where her bra strap was. "We could do so much more...I could do so many bad things to you..."He whispered into her ear. She shivered as he kissed her again, his hands sliding from her breasts down to her hips before sliding onto her butt and resting there. "You're too hot to be around parental units, you know. It's not fair to me." He growled at her as he slowly sat her back up and sat up himself, holding her hand as they sat there.

Rachel once again marveled at how excellent Puck's parent-dar was. He always knew when parents or teachers were about to enter a room and just when he should stop their make-out sessions. He stopped this current one about one and a half minutes before her fathers came walking into the room.

"So, Rachel, we heard that you contacts your mother," Leroy said, frowning at Rachel as he sat in an arm chair across from her, his arms crossed across his chest.

"We don't mind that you did that, as much as the fact that you didn't tell us about it." Hiram informed her.

"I didn't go looking for her, dad," Rachel frowned. "I heard a tape of her singing that Jesse and I found in one of my boxes in the garage last year, and when Quinn, Santana and I were at Carmel with Brittany, we heard Shelby Corcoran sing-she's the director of Vocal Adrenaline-and their voices matched perfectly, so I went up to her. I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would be angry." Rachel exclaimed.

"Mr. Berry? I understand that this is an important matter that needs to be discussed, but shouldn't it be considered a family conversation and talked about when I wasn't around?" Puck frowned.

"Puck, you've always been included in our family discussions," Leroy said.

"Before I was obligated to take Rachel's side. When I was a part of them before, I could give my honest answer, but now I'm a bit torn. I want you two to like me as Rachel's boyfriend, because I love her, but I also don't want to upset her. It makes taking sides and giving my opinion a bit hard, you see," Puck said.

"You've got one hell of a boyfriend there, Rachel," Hiram said, surprising Rachel and Puck both with his swearing.

"I know, daddy-I think so too," Rachel said, cuddling up closer to Puck as he placed an arm around her on the couch. "He's a great guy, isn't he?" She wondered.

"We've always known that," Leroy said with a shrug and a proud smile at Puck.


	28. Chapter 28

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 28**

"He really said that?" Santana asked later that night as she and Rachel talked on the phone. "Wow, who would have known that Noah Puckerman could be a total sweet heart?" She wondered as she shook her head, water spraying her room from her wet hair as she grabbed a comb and began to comb through the dark, soaking wet locks. "I mean, I've seen him be charming before, but that was typically to work his way into a girl's pants. I never would have believed that he could be as sweet as he is with you, though. I mean, would you have, Q?" She asked the third girl on the three way call.

"I have to admit-I'm more than a little shocked," Quinn sighed. "But, hey, he's in love now, so he'll be different than he was for us, right?" Quinn shrugged. "Anyways, I was just wondering something...San, you, Britt and I always promised we'd be best friends forever-and look at how awful that turned out. Do you guys think that's going to happen to us?" She asked, twirling a blonde strand of hair around her finger tips.

"Q," Santana pouted. "We're going to be friends until we're old and senile. Then we're going to be _new _friends. We'll be those three crazy old ladies racing on our wheel chairs and flirting with the cute boys who work there, because we like 'em young and strong, right?" She giggled to her friends.

"Not me!" Rachel said. "I'm all for helping you guys cause trouble in the nursing home, but there's only one guy for me," She said brightly, and Santana could practically hear the smile in her voice.

"Puck's there right now, isn't he?" Santana rolled her eyes.

"He's staying all weekend. My dads are out of town," Rachel explained.

"And you're on the phone with us? Damn, and I thought I had to be worried about our friendship-Rachel's more committed to that than her sex life!" Quinn crackled.

"Hey-honesty time? I mean, we all slept with Puckerman, right?" Santana asked, setting her comb down and walking across her room to select a nail polish to put on. "Well, on a scare of one to ten-one being...Steve Urkel and ten being...Channing Tatum-what would you rate him?" She asked, a sly smile on her face.

"Um, San? You do remember the fact that I was drunk when Puck and I slept together, right? And the fact that it was my first time so I have absolutely nothing to judge him by? Although, if we were going on looks and muscle mass, he would most definitely be about a nine. Actually, you know what? From what I can remember about that night, I would most definitely give him a nine over all," Quinn sighed in defeat. After all, she knew Santana wouldn't give up.

"Yeah, you know what, Q? I'd have to agree with you there. He's almost as hot as Channing, after all. But his muscles? They're about twice as big as Channing's are. Still, his dancing? Not as sexy as Channing's, therefore Channing would be better in bed," Santana explained. She was staying true to her morals that guys who could dance were good in bed. From her experience, it was true, after all, so she was going to stick to that belief, until she was proven wrong. "But, yeah, I'd probably give him a solid nine as well," Santana told them as she plucked a bright red polish from her bucket and walked towards her bed.

"I don't think we should be comparing boys in the whole sex department, guys. I mean, it seems wrong and mean. It's like a form of bullying, isn't it? And I know that they do it to us and all, but that doesn't make it right. It actually just makes us just as bad as they are in the end, because we're stooping down to-"Rachel began before slowly trailing off and giggling softly. "Okay-he's gone, he went downstairs to get snacks. I satisfied him enough with that start. Anyways, I don't agree with you guys. He's not that great. He's strong and all, but he's not that incredible in bed. I think he could do better. I give him a...seven," Rachel said.

"Damn-I remember when she was quiet and shy," Santana said, shaking her head as she shook up the bottle of polish. "Q, I think we've created a monster. She thinks there's a guy out there who's better in bed than Puck!" She crackled as she uncapped the bottle and started to paint, the phone balanced between her shoulder and her ear. "The girl's either crazy or taking our slutty-ness to a whole new level," Santana laughed.

"You know what? It's nice to have friends-people who you can talk about guys with...I mean, I guess you could say that Kurt and I were friends, but we could never really be close because we were always competing for Finn, you know? It wasn't until after I started dating Puck and had you guys that Kurt become close with me," She said.

"Aw! Ray-Santana, she's making me tear up," Quinn whined. "Of course, she should probably also realize that she used to be normal before she met us," Quinn laughed.

"Quinn, I was never normal," Rachel said with a laugh.

"Can we please go back to the fact that she only gave Puckerman a freaking seven?" Santana asked.

"San, he's my boyfriend. Why is it such a big deal to you that I think he's a seven and you gave him a nine?" Rachel sighed and Santana was sure she was rolling her eyes.

"Because that means that I must be missing something and there is no way that you've slept with more boys than Quinn, let alone me. It's just not possible. So what in the hell makes you think that he's only a seven? Because it most definitely is not because of his size," Santana asked, some of her Lima Heights Bitch coming out.

"I hear ya, there!" Quinn called out. There was some kind of munch in Santana's ear and she cringed a little. She hated it when Quinn let her cravings get the best of her. It was such an awful, ugly, annoying sound to have potato chips or pickles crunched on directly in a person's ear when they were trying to have a normal phone conversation with their best friends. Still, Quinn was agreeing with her, and that was all that really mattered.

"Can we not talk about the size of my boyfriend's...of my boyfriend? Anyways, I hear him coming up the stairs, so can we change the subject? I really don't think he'd want me to be discussing this-anyways, what did you think of that pop quiz in Spanish today? God, Mr. Shue's such a jerk sometimes, isn't he? It was just totally ridiculous. Why would he test us on cafe dialogue? Like I'm going to need that-we live in Lima!" Rachel said.

"Nice touch there," Santana grinned, nodding in approval. Rachel had clearly learned a lot from the lying, manipulative Latino bitch who always managed to get her way. It made Santana proud to see the effect she was having on Rachel. And Rachel's subject change was just subtle enough for Puck to not notice anything suspicious.

"I repeat-why the hell are you on the phone with us when you could be doing some very nasty, very inappropriate things with that very attractive boyfriend you've got?" Quinn wondered. Santana had to admit that she'd been wondering the exact same thing herself, but hadn't wanted to say anything.

"Aren't you staying at Kurt's house now, because Mercedes' was too loud for your taste?" Santana asked suddenly, her eyebrows creasing in confusion.

"What's that got to do with Rachel neglecting her obligations to that very fine boy she's got?" Quinn asked.

"Didn't Finn move in with Kurt and his dad, because their parents are dating?" Santana asked.

"I still don't understand what that has to do with Rachel ignoring the fact that an insanely hot boy is sitting besides her and she's not doing anything about it," Quinn sighed. "Speaking of-why isn't she saying anything?"

"Because I'm waiting for the right moment to tell you to stop commenting on my boyfriend's looks!" Rachel laughed. "Anyways, Santana's wondering why you're talking about Puck and I with Finn so close to you," She asked.

"Well, it's not like you're cheating on him with Puck. And it's not like-oh, shit, you're asking because I'm talking about when I cheated on Finn with Puck, aren't you?" She paused.

"Bingo-well, to be fair, it was a little bit of both," Santana shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to go do my girlfriend-like duties now, so Quinn doesn't get all made at me," Rachel teased as she hung up.


	29. Chapter 29

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 29  
_A/N: I just want it to be made clear, in case nobody else really realized it...Rachel rated him a 7 because she's not dating him for the sex. Her feelings for him are deeper than that, and in giving him a lower rating than her friends gave him, its showing that he means more to her than he did to Santana and Quinn. _  
**

__"Morning, baby," Puck grinned at her the next morning as he woke up besides her. Rachel was tucked safely into his arms, wearing one of the tee shirt he'd packed with him for his weekend at Rachel's. They'd stayed up most of the night after Rachel had hung up with her friends enjoying their time alone in the very way she and the girls had been talking about him. "Last night was amazing," He whispered in her ear, her hair acting as a slight barrier between his lips and her ear. "Am I still a seven?" He asked her.

Her eyes snapped open as she turned around to face him, a shocked look on her face as.

"I heard you," He stuck his tongue out at her. "Don't worry-I don't hold grudges. You're a ten for me," He told her, leaning in and kissing her. "But, really? I'm only a seven?" He asked when they broke apart.

"They rated you nines, okay?' Rachel said. "And they only were with you for the sex. If I'd answered the same way, then it would seem like I felt like I was into you for the same reasons as them. But I love you, because you're more than just a good time in bed to me, alright? I enjoy being with you. In all honesty, you're breaking the scale, alright? But I didn't want them to know that I agreed with them. Then it made me just as bad as it made them," She shrugged, shaking her head as she leaned up to kiss him again. He turned his head away from her.

"So you insulted my sex abilities because you didn't want your friends to think that you were only with me for the sex by saying that you gave me a nine, which was the same rating they gave me? Why didn't you just give me a ten? Or an eight? Why the hell did it gave to be a seven?" He pouted.

"Because seven starts with S and S is for sexy," She informed him. "Now shut up and let me kiss you so we can get to work on your little Pucklberry junior obsession," She teased him.

"Really?" He asked, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Hmmm," She said thoughtfully. "Yes on letting me kiss you," She nodded. "But no on the baby making, alright?" She said. He pouted as he crossed his arms and rolled over, about to get out of bed. "Hey!" She called to him. HE turned his head around to face her. "I didn't say no to the sex!" She pointed out.

"Berry, you're too damn sexy for your own good," He sighed as he rolled back towards her, landing right on top of her as he kissed her, long and hard. She groaned, pushing him away from her. "What's the matter, babe?" He wondered, slightly confused at her sudden change of mind. She rolled her eyes, positioning herself on top of him. "Oh, that's right-I forgot-you always have to be on top...gotta be part of your OC-"She cut him off with a kiss.

"Were you trying to insult me there?" She asked with a playfully smile as she removed her shirt-his shirt-and went back to kissing him, lying on top of him in her pink, little girl like bedroom, completely naked. Kurt had said this room was where Strawberry shortcake and Hollie Hobby came to hook-up. Yet, for Puck, it was the single most sexiest place in the entire world for a hook-up between his girlfriend and himself. After all, it didn't matter where he was with Rachel-as long as he was with her and he was getting the sex he required to stay alive, he was all good.

"Hold up," Rachel said suddenly, breaking the kiss again. Puck swore. "Language!" She scolded him as she glared down at him. "No, seriously, I have to ask you something...you're not just with me because of the sex, right?" She asked him with a slight frown. "I mean, there's more to our relationship on your part than just getting to sleep with me, right?" She asked.

"Of course there is-Santana had a shitty personality and a great body, that was why I wanted to sleep with her, alright? I needed a way to shut her up and still full fill my needs. I never felt anything for her, alright? And Quinn? I was drunk. I was jealous of Finn. It was just a way to get my anger out, alright? It didn't mean anything. You happen to have an insanely hot body that's even better than Santana's, as well as having an incredible personality with depth and character. A part of me hates shutting you up when I sleep with you, but another part of me is grateful that I get every part of you," he told her.

"Why the hell are you so sweet? Being sweet when you're as hot as you are is unfair. It practically makes the girls start stripping for you, and that's not fair," Rachel pouted.

"You know, you're really wrecking the mood here," He sighed.

"Shut up," She rolled her eyes. "It's an unfair advantage you have, Noah. And it makes me insanely jealous whenever I see a girl talking you you, because I'm afraid you're working your charm on them without even realizing it, because your charm is just a part of your character. And mixed with your muscles, it's unfair to me and to every girl out there. It's no wonder I couldn't resist you," She told him with a sigh. Instead of his usual words of reassurance though, he just put his lips to hers and gave her the most passionate kiss he could muster.


	30. Chapter 30

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 30  
_A/N: This chapter? Totally painful to write. Please don't hate me forever. I'll cry. _  
**

"Hello?" Rachel asked as she picked up the phone. It was Sunday and Puck had just left to return home. Her fathers would be back in a few hours, and Puck had had to babysit Raquel for his mother. Rachel had chosen to stay home to catch up on some homework.

"I'm at your door. Let me in," She dropped the phone in shock at the voice on the other end. She hadn't spoken a single word to this boy or heard a single word from his beautiful, deep, mysteriously sexy voice for about a year. She'd been the one to end the relationship, but he had been the one to severe all ties with her, ending any communication they had had with one another.

She slowly walked towards her door, that memory of their first meeting flooding back to her.

* * *

_Rachel walked through the stacks of sheet music, her hands piled high with lots of books all full of songs with the word HELLO in the title. It was a silly assignment that had been assigned to her and the rest of the Show Choir by Sandy, their idiotic director, but Rachel wanted to excel in it. Maybe then she could get a solo. Yet none of them quite fit her exact mood at the moment. None of them made sense for what she was looking for. She paused, biting her bottom lip as she reached for the next book that spotted her eye, only to drop the large pile that was already in her hands._

_"Shoot!" She sighed, shaking her head, dropping to her knees as she started to pick up all of the books she'd spilled all over the floor._

_"Here-let me help you," A new voice asked. It was soft, yet mysteriously deep with a kind, sexy hint to it. She recognized the voice, but not from anybody that she actually had met before. Anyways, she doubted that the person she assumed it was would be trying to help her. He was much too famous for that. "Lionel Richie? He's one of my favorites," The boy said. _

_Rachel couldn't help but look up now, because she needed to politely accept her books back from him. She smiled, nodding slightly as she took them back from him. _

_"Thank you," She said._

_"Why don't I know you? He asked, smiling at her brightly. "You're clearly in some kind of glee club, and that means I should know you," He frowned as he tilted his head towards her. _

_"Because my glee club sucks!" She said. "I go to McKinley," She explained. "I'm Rachel Berry," She added.  
_

_"Oh, you're from McKinley?" He frowned. "I go to-"_

_"Carmel? I know. I mean...I know who you are. You're Jesse St. James," She said, knowing she was acting like a fan, but she couldn't help it. He was just so talented and so cute. _

_"All these books are full of songs with Hello in the title," He frowned, studying the books, blushing slightly. Rachel admired how he was changing the subject away from his own fame and talent. It was a quality only the absolute best singers and performers could have-to act as if praise meant nothing to them and embarrassed them to no end. _

_"It's an assignment we have for my Glee club. But, well, nothing's working," She shrugged, starting to put the books back._

_"Do you want to sing with me?" He asked, taking the Lionel Richie book from her._

_"Me? Sing a duet with you?" She asked, her jaw dropping. "But, I'm really not that-I'm only a-"_

_"Sing with me, please?" He asked, flashing an innocent grin that would later prove to get her to do almost anything he asked of her. _

_"Alright," She agreed. _

* * *

Rachel took a deep breath as she opened the door, sighing as she saw Jesse St. James standing right there, in her doorway.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, taking a step back and letting him inside, praying that nobody saw him.

"I saw you at rehearsal the other day. What were you doing there?" He asked.

"My friends and I wanted to check out the competition," She admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot we're competing during Regionals...you did incredible at Sectionals," He told her.

"Thank you," She said, her gaze lowered away from him.

"What's the matter?" He asked her.

"I'm dating somebody else and-"

"Rachel, I came to see you because I missed you. I don't expect anything from you," He told her honestly.

"Why are you here?" She repeated the question, phrasing it just a little different.

"I missed you," He shrugged.

"In all honesty, what are you doing here?" Rachel asked. She knew him too well. He only ever did something that would help him.

"I want you to join Vocal Adrenaline," He said.

"No," She shook her head.

"Then I'm going to join New Directions," He said.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"I told you once that I was going to make all of your dreams come true," He shrugged.

"So what?" She asked.

"You want to win Regionals? We can do that-together," He told her.

"I don't need-"

"Rachel, stop being like this. I still love you, alright?"

"I'm with somebody-"

"Do you remember when we sang that song together? Up in your room?" He asked her with a smile.

Even she found herself smiling at the memory.

* * *

_"Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to help me figure out a song. I just can't find anything that gives me the right amount of emotion depth," She explained as she sat on the foot of her bed. _

_"Don't worry," Jesse told her. "I've got it all figured out for you. Have you ever heard of a little musical called **A Chorus Line?" **he asked her with a sly smile on his face. _

_"Oh my god!" She gasped, bringing her palms up to her mouth. "I can't believe I forgot about it," She said. _

_"It only ran on Broadway for 6,137 shows," He grinned at her. She smiled brightly, surprised to have found somebody as addicted to Broadway shows as herself. He walked towards her CD player and dropped a CD in, hitting play with a smile aimed directly towards her heart. _

_"Hello twelve," Rachel sang after the intro, staring at the ground, trying her hardest not to look at Jesse._

_"Hello thirteen," He sang, standing by her CD player, eyes locked on her. _

_"Hello love," she belted out, slowly standing up and letting the music take over. _

_They danced around her bedroom, lunging playfully at each other and dancing with one another with large smiles on their faces. And then the music stopped and Jesse looked at her seriously._

_"You need to sit down. You just tried to pull focus," He said blankly, eyes locked on her in disbelief. _

_"I'm-I...but, there's nobody here," She frowned, worried that she'd wrecked her chances with a boy so wonderful and so much like her without even realizing just how much she wanted him._

_"It was exhilarating!" He announced. "When you're as talented as I am, nobody even tries to get a taste of the spotlight. Nobody's ever tried to knock me out of the way before. If you were in Vocal Adrenaline, we would get every duet," he told her, sitting down besides her on the trunk at the foot of her bed.  
_

_"Do you really-"_

_"Have you ever practiced a kissing scene before?" He asked her, eyes locked on her._

_"I...well-no," SHe admitted._

_"It's important to any young performer," He told her, reaching forward and moving a strand of hair away from her face as he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Her arms found their way around him and she found herself kissing him back, deepening it hungarily with fifteen years of pent up passion buried in that kiss. _

_"That was...amazing," He told her, his eyes locked on hers._

_"Thanks," She whispered._

_"But I have some notes," He smirked. She opened her mouth indignantly, but he cut her off with a kiss. _

* * *

"We could be like that again," He told her, taking a small step towards her. She instantly took a step back, stepping right up against the wall.

"I have a boyfriend, Jesse, and he'd kick your ass if he knew you were here right now, whether he knew what you were suggesting or not," She told him. She wasn't sure why she wasn't simply telling Jesse that she loved Puck, but something was making it impossible to say those words.

"Rachel, nobody can break the bond we have. Our voices are connected. Whenever we have a problem, as long as there's music, we don't need words. We just need some lyrics to a song and we can work everything out. We're special and we belong together. I get that I was a jerk last time around, but I won't do that to you this time. I promise," He told her.

"Jesse, I can't be with you. I'm with somebody else and I'm not a cheater. I don't do stuff like that, alright? Anyways, I really like this guy," She said, a small nagging voice in the back of her head trying to get her to tell Jesse about her love towards Puck, but another voice yelling for that nagging instinct to just shut the hell up and let her talk. "You and I are over, alright? I'll admit that our duets were incredible, but it's all over now and it's not going to come back again," She told him, wondering why she felt a twinge of regret as she spoke.

"Stop fighting it. You feel it, don't you? We're being pulled together," He told her. And she opened her mouth to protest, but, just as he had after their first kiss, he cut her off by placing his lips on her own, his hands resting on her waist as he pulled her closer to him. And with that kiss, all of the memories of their sweet moments together came back to her in one crash of regret and lust. She couldn't remember the jerk who had tried to pressure her into sex. SHe only remembered the sweet boy who could make her smile and laugh. She could only think of the boy who had tried his hardest to make all of her dreams come true. ANd she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back with a newfound passion.


	31. Chapter 31

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
CHapter 31  
_A/N: To the anonymous reviewer who's constantly leaving me negative reviews about my story: Stop spamming my reviews because it's honestly annoying. I don't mind getting CC, but this is seriously getting ridiculous. The chapter WAS painful to write, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be written. And you know what? If you seriously have to complain about ever drop of drama I toss in this story, then go read a one-shot or something that's all OOC and fluffy-no offense to authors, because I do read those and I do enjoy them, but when I'm reading a story I do expect some drama. I'm not trying to be mean and I'm not saying I don't want the reviews, but I really am tired of the same person leaving me negative reviews. They make me feel miserable and they actually have me considering just ending this story for good or blocking anonymous reviews for good and i don't want to do either of those things. I'm sorry if you guys didn't like the last chapter, but I needed to bring Jesse back in-and don't worry, Rachel's coming to her senses-she's not going to be into him, this is just the intro for his own drama. _  
**

The memories that were so sweet, filled with Jesse St. James, all seemed to have one thing in common though. He was sweet talking his way into getting something else from Rachel. He was singing a duet with Rachel. They were nothing like the wonderful, sweet, funny moments that she had with Noah Puckerman. And that's when her eyes snapped open and she was back into the reality of what was happening around her.

"Get off me!" Rachel snapped, pushing Jesse off of her. "Don't you dare come to my house and assault me!" She said, opening the door. "Get out!" She said.

"You were enjoying it," Jesse protested.

"Get out," She said.

"You're going to regret this, Berry," He glared as he walked outside, slamming the door shut behind her.

Rachel didn't doubt his threat. She was absolutely positive that he was, in fact, going to make her regret turning him away for the second time. She didn't doubt that he was going to do something stupid to try and hurt her.

She shook the thought off as she walked towards her bedroom, grabbing her phone as soon as she reached it and dialing Puck's number.

"What's up?" He asked as soon as he answered.

"Noah, I'm so sorry," She whispered.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Jesse just came over," She said softly.

"Jesse your ex-boyfriend?"

"Yes," She admitted.

"Oh..."

"And he kissed me,"

"Where is he?"

"What?"

"I'm going to kill him,"

"But, Noah, you don't-"

"Rach, when somebody kisses you, it's kind of instinct to kiss back. And clearly you realized something was wrong, because you called me right away, alright? I'm not going to get mad about something you obviously regret. There are a few problems with that. We're both upset when that happens, and all it can really do is send you straight into his arms which I really don't want. Guys are idiots when they overreact like that because then they're sad and the girl's with the guy they don't think deserves her," He explained slowly.

"How the hell did I get you?"

"Because you're a ten."

"Are you still on about that?"

"Yes."

"Ugh, okay, fine, you wanna hear the truth?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"You were a seven because you're too fast."

"I'm too fast?"

"Yes."

"Okaaaaay-but other than that?"

"Off the scale."

"Are you saying that to make me feel better?"

"Of course not,"

"I love you."

"Love you, too," she smiled as she hung up. She set her phone down and then frowned, staring at the wall in her room.

She'd been spending every single second with Puck since she'd gotten together. She needed to have some well deserved girls'-and Kurt-time. She grabbed her phone and dialed up Kurt's number.

"What's the matter, Diva?" He asked.

"Has it been that long since I called you?" She giggled.

"Yes."

"Well, nothing's the matter. I want a spa day tomorrow after school, and maybe some shopping? I'm gonna call San and Quinn-and Mer, of course," She explained as she spoke. "I'll invite Tina but I doubt she'll come," She shrugged.

"Spa day?"

"Did that just brighten your entire day?"

"That brightened my entire week!"

"You're such a girl..."

"Can I pick out new clothes for you when we go shopping?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"I'm gonna call everyone else, now, alright?"

"'Kay-later, diva,"

"Later, diva,"

"Love ya,"

"Lova ya, too," She smiled as she hung up once again. She sighed as she fell back on her bed.

FOr once, everything was perfect. Puck wasn't angry with her. Brittany wasn't trying to cause any drama. Finn was done trying to get with her. Jesse was the furthest thing from her mind and tomorrow she was going to spend sometime with the girls, something she hadn't ever done before.


	32. Chapter 32

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 32  
_A/N: I currently happen to be begging my parents for Mark Salling's album, Pipe Dream, because I'm a total fan girl. Apparently it's too much to ask that I pick an actor close to my own age to obsess over...well, 14 years isn't THAT big of a deal...yeah, who am I kidding? _  
**

__Noah Puckerman wasn't actually okay with the fact that his girlfriend had kissed some other guy. He was actually angry-not as much with her as with this Jesse St. James kid-and completely jealous. That was why, on Monday, after school, he was sitting outside of Carmel high, trying to calm down enough to go inside and confront the idiot who had thought of Rachel as fair game. Because, well, she wasn't. She was Puck's, and when it came to his property-even if he was referring to a girlfriend-he only had one rule. What's his was his, and nobody else's. He didn't share very well. Besides, it was only allowed for him to think that Rachel Berry was hot. He knew it, but that didn't mean the rest of the school-the rest of the world-was allowed to know and feel the same.

His phone buzzed and he sighed, picking it up to see a text from Rachel.

**Rachel: Are you sure you're okay with not hanging out today?  
**

The honest answer to that question would be a dead solid no. He hated not being able to see Rachel that afternoon. Seeing her at school was fine, but they couldn't have alone time and he didn't get to see that side of Rachel that nobody else got to see when he was surrounded by their friends.

But he would never tell her that, because then she would cancel her plans with her friends, and he knew how excited she was to spend time with them. She'd been spending all of her free time with Puck as of late, and as much as he was enjoying it, he knew that he couldn't be the center of her life. Because then, if anything happened-knock on wood-she'd end up like that pathetic girl in those vampire books his sister liked so much that just sat around for months, not doing anything but crying over her boyfriend who had left her. And Puck did not want Rachel to ever have to go through that.

**Puck: Of course-hang out with your friends-but you're all mine tomorrow ;)**

**Rachel: Alright-Ily  
**

**Puck: Love you too-and tell Kurt he's not allowed to change one thing about you ;)**

**Rachel: Too late  
**

**Puck: What did he do?**

**Rachel: You'll see tomorrow**

**Puck: You're lucky I love you**

**Rachel: I know :D**

He shook his head as he put his phone back down in the cup holder and opened his truck's door, climbing out and walking towards the school.

He'd been planning his face-to-face with Jesse since he and Rachel had hung up the night before. He was going to use wanting to meet his girlfriend's mother as an excuse, if anybody saw and asked him what he was doing, waiting outside of the building for Vocal Adrenaline to finish rehearsing. If not, he was going to just confront the idiot and start from there. After all, nobody got to put their hands on a girl.

He'd had that rule established since Santana, back in middle school when they'd 'dated'. It had carried on when he was simply sleeping with her, and it had been in use while he and Mercedes were dating for that short period of time. So why wouldn't anybody count it for Rachel Berry, the girl that he loved?

Apparently this Jesse kid didn't realize who he was messing with.

His timing couldn't have been more perfect. As soon as he reached the doors to the school, everybody came walking out. It was obvious they were Vocal Adrenaline, by the stupid jackets they were all wearing with their team names on them. What made his plan even better was the fact that their own names were printed on the back.

"Hey, St. James," He called, leaning against the school's brick walls with his arms crossed. A pale, tall boy turned around and studied the mohawked teenager. "I need to talk to you," Puck glared.

"Do I know you?" Jesse asked, starting to approach him.

"You know my girlfriend," Puck said, pushing from the wall and standing up straight. He and the pale moron were about the same height, but Puck had pounds of muscle on the scrawny boy.

"You're Rachel's new boyfriend?" He asked, not bothering to hide the shock in his voice as he studied him once again, his eyes widening in complete and utter shock. "She doesn't really have a solid _type, _does she?" Jesse wondered, turning around and sharing a snicker with the two stupid looking goons surrounding him.

"No, she'd just rather take a step up every time she moves on," Puck shot back.

"What do you want to talk about? I don't have all day. Some of us happen to be winners," Jesse smirked.

"Well, apparently that's me, because I'm the one who won Rachel," He smirked.

"What do you want?"

"You kissed my girl."

"So?"

"I don't take kindly to pale ass holes coming in and putting their hands on something that's mine," Puck said. "I want you to stay away from her. I don't want you talking to her, I don't want you looking at her. And most of all, I don't want you to think about her," He said darkly, scowling at him.

"And if I don't listen?"

"Well, then you're going to have to answer to me. And I won't be nice the second time around. Take this as a warning-keep your hands off of my girl, because Rachel Berry is _mine _and she will _always _be mine, understand?" He asked.

He nodded once before starting to walk away, pushing against Jesse's shoulder as he passed by him and his friends, walking back towards his truck.

"How often have you sung a duet with her?" Jesse asked. "Because I doubt she'll stick with you once she realizes how much better she and I sounded together, compared to the two of you," He called after him.

Puck didn't stop walking. He didn't turn around to look at Jesse once again. All he did was call back to him, turning his head just enough to through the words over his shoulder carefully.

"It doesn't take us psychically singing together for her to realize that she's my musical soulmate," He said as he reached his truck, climbing inside and starting it up, pulling from Carmel's parking lot and heading back towards his own house.


	33. Chapter 33

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 33  
_A/n: Apparently Puckleberry fans aren't allowed to be upset that they got Rachel a new love interest for season four...because the preview I just saw says that "Finchel fans will be up and arms" Um, he left her the day of the wedding and Puck said he loved her. Therefore, Puckleberry fans have more of a right to be upset. Seriously, I'm a little upset at how Finchel fans are so upset whenever Finchel isn't the top of the episode-like, let Puckleberry take center stage for a little while, okay? Anyways, enjoy the chapter!_  
**

__Puck's eyes widened as Rachel paraded from the house in a tiny little silvery dress. It was strapless and fell to the middle of her thigh with two simple layers of ruffles on the skirt. He gulped as he clenched the steering wheel a little tighter as she twirled around, her full mane of dark hair flowing around her shoulders in the gentle breeze and her eyes bright with the sparkly make-up she was wearing. She opened the door to his truck and slowly lifted herself inside, leaning over to kiss him gently on the cheek, smiling at him while looking up at him from under her eyelashes.

"You like it?" She asked softly, her voice a low sound from the back of her throat.

"Do we have to go to school today?" He whispered, his voice hard to find as he forced the words to come out without giving away just how much he really liked her new outfit. After all, he loved her just as much as he had before. He just wanted her a little bit more with this change in appearance.

"You like it?" She asked again, just a little more brightly this time around, a wide smile breaking across her face as she reached and took his hand from the steering wheel and wrapped her hand in it.

"Of course I freaking like it-you're wearing a tight, short little dress. I'd be an idiot if I didn't like it. But I liked you before, too. This is just too tempting. And don't you think it's a little too much for school?" He wondered, wishing she'd change so he didn't have to worry about another boy's wandering eyes when it came to her. After all, only he got to stare at her with eyes as large as saucers. And only he could think those dirty thoughts he was thinking right now.

"Artie said you'd probably have a lot to say about what other guys' would do with this dress..."Rachel frowned.

"_Artie _saw you in this dress? I thought it was just the girls," He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned and studied her, still parked in her driveway.

"We went to Kurt's afterwards so I could model all the new outfits we bought for them, and Artie was there because he and Tina were going out afterwards. Besides, Artie and I are friends, and I said that I was going to be spending the afternoon with my friends, remember?" She told him, crossing her arms over her own chest. "And hurry up, or we'll be late for school and you'll wreck my flawless record," She teased.

"A guy and girl can't be just friends," Puck protested, pulling out of the driveway and turning onto the main street. "They really can't, at least, not without the guy thinking some pretty perverted and dirty things about the girl the entire time," He told her as he pulled off of her street and started heading towards the street.

"You and I used to be friends. Mike and I are friends. And Matt and I are friends," Rachel protested, shaking her head as she lowered herself in her seat, feeling less and less confident about this outfit choice. Her original plan had been to rub her long legs, her toned muscles, her soft curves, and her beautiful features in the faces of each and every bully in all of McKinley. But judging by Puck's reaction, she was going to have to deal with a jealous boyfriend for each jock she got her well deserved revenge on, and she wasn't quite sure it was worth it.

"The entire time you and I were friends, I was thinking about how your legs looked in those tiny little skirts and how I couldn't wait to full fill each and every one of my naughty school girl fantasies with you," He told her bluntly.

"Well, that wasn't a very good example anyways. But I do happen to be friends with Matt and Mike," She reminded him.

"Mike calls you legs-that the most objectified nickname a guy could give a girl. And it just proves that he's always staring at your legs-which is something that I need to talk about him with, actually. And as for Matt, well, every time he talks to you, his eyes drift onto your chest-another thing I need to talk to those two about, because only I can objectify you that way," He told her, a teasing smile on her face that showed he was softening a little about her sexy little outfit.

"Well, I do have a friend down in Tennessee, who goes to this all boys boarding school down there. His name's Sam Evans and I'm more than a little bit certain that-"

"Wait a second-how come I've never heard about this guy before?" Puck asked. "How did you even meet him, if he lives in Tennessee? And goes to an all boys school? And I can guarantee that unless he's gayer than Kurt, he's checked you out and had some very dirty thoughts about you on more than one occasion," Puck cut her off, a harsh glare in his eyes.

"You don't know everybody that I know, Noah," She sighed. "Anyways, I met him because my dad and his father work for the same business, just different branches. We don't see each other very often, but we've met on enough occasions and we're quite close-we communicate via internet and we text each other quite often. He's actually going to be transferring to McKinley in the upcoming school year. He plays football. He's a quarterback, and it's very good. I think that you and he could be great friends, once you-"She began, but he cut her off with a bitter laugh.

"Oh, yeah that'll be great, right? Me and some guy who probably can't wait to get into your pants can be best buddies," He said sarcastically as he turned into the school parking lot. "It makes perfect sense-this Sam kid's great-he just wants to steal my girlfriend, but that doesn't matter, because he's good at football," Puck rolled his eyes. "But yeah, we can be best friends-no problem," He shook his head as he parked.

"Do you have to be so vulgar all the time?" She snapped at him.

"Do you have to be so naive all the time?" He shot back.

"I can't believe you're accusing some person you've never met of wanting to sleep with me, just because we're friends and he happens to be a boy. That is incredibly rude and judgemental. Not all males are like you, with one track minds. Not all guys are sex sharks that need to keep moving forward or else they'll die!" She said angrily.

"And not all girls are so attention seeking. They aren't all like Tinkerbele, where they need applause to live," He told her with a smirk as he turned on her.

She shook her head, narrowing her eyes. He knew immediately that that had been the wrong thing to say. She tore off her seatbelt, threw open the door to his truck and dumped to the ground, taking her bag with her as she stormed towards the school, looking over her shoulder to call back at him angrily. "Don't talk to me-ever again. I never want to look at you again. We're over because you're nothing more than a player."

"What the hell did I just do?" He wondered, placing his head against the steering wheel as he watched the only girl he'd ever admitted his real feelings for walk away, telling him to stay out of his life forever, all because he'd gotten jealous, for a very stupid reason. And most of it had been because of his left over resentment towards Jesse St. James and the kiss he and Rachel had shared a few days prior. He sighed as he forced himself to get out of his car and start heading towards school, knowing that this was going to be the longest day of his entire life.


	34. Chapter 34

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 34**

Rachel Berry studied her reflection in the mirror as she rolled her shoulders back, raising her head. She fluffed her blunt bangs one last time before shaking out her long, full mane of dark hair and leaned closer to the mirror, widening her dark eyes as she checked to make sure her make-up was perfect. She smoothed out the hem of her denim mini skirt one last time as she heard a horn honk from her driveway, pulling the hem of her hot pink tank top over the hem of the skirt one last time before sliding on her heels and racing from her room and towards the driveway, ready to start her junior year of high school as she hurried towards the familiar truck sitting in her driveway.

"SAM!" She exclaimed, leaning across the bench seat to hug her best friend as tightly as she possibly could. The tall, blonde haired boy with the blue green eyes smiled back at her, his large mouth forming the largest smile that Rachel had ever seen before as he ruffled her hair and she glared at him.

"RAE!" He grinned, starting to pull from her driveway. "I can't say I'm crazy about this new wardrobe you've got," He sighed, shaking his head. "How am I supposed to be the protective older brother when you're walking around half naked?" He teased her.

"I am _not _half naked. You're just not used to going to school with girls, or without having to wear uniforms," She shot back, turning on his radio and searching through the stations. "Besides, guys at McKinley don't even look at me. Not only am I a loser and in the Glee club, but they think I'm weird, and besides that, I dated Noah Puckerman last year and he threatened to kill anybody who even looked at me the wrong way," She explained.

"Sounds like my kind of guy," Sam grinned, heading towards the school as he drove, sneaking a look at Rachel and wondering what had happened to her sense of humor.

"Things didn't end well. He and I don't really talk anymore," She shrugged, lowering her head.

"What happened? Do I need to kick somebody's ass?" He offered, that goofy smile coming back to him as he studied his best friend, turning into the school's parking lot.

"No, we just didn't see eye to eye on certain things. I broke up with him. Nothing you need to concern yourself with," She shrugged as he parked. She scanned the parking lot, trying to locate Santana and Quinn, or Kurt and Mercedes, before entering the school. She was dreading see Puck again for the first time since their latest fall out. She could still remember it, almost perfectly, even now, three months later.

* * *

_"Can we please just talk?" He sighed, appearing at her locker the same way he had every single day in the months following the break-up. He hadn't been doing it in the last few weeks though. Apparently the last day of school was special, though, because he was right there behind her as she turned away from her now empty locker. _

_"Are you willing to apologize and admit that you were wrong?" She asked him crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows. _

_"I'm apologizing because we disagreed, and I'm not going to admit that I'm wrong just because we don't see eye to eye on something. I'll admit that we have different opinions, but that's as far as I'm-"_

_"No deal," She cut him off. _

_"What do you want me to do?" He asked, pleading with her. _

_"I want you to leave me alone. I want everything to go back to how it was before we ever dated. I want you to forget about me and how you ever felt about me, because I've already forgotten about you!" She spat at him with a voice full of bitterness. She had been lying, of course, but the venom was still there in her tone. He took a step back, lowering his head and his confidence faltering with her words as she glared at him._

_"You really want that?" He questioned._

_"If it will get you to stop being a pathetic loser and trying to get me back, then yes, I do," She said._

_"Fine-but just remember that you asked for this," He told her softly._

_"Of course I did," She shrugged, about to walk away._

_"You're a bitch, Man Hands, and next year, the slushies are only going to get worse," He told her, pausing her steps for a moment before she began walking again, her speed much to fast to imply that his words hadn't bothered her. "Just watch out, because nobody's protecting you anymore," He called after her as she exited the school, just wanting to cry._

* * *

Every time Puck remembered his terrible, horrid actions from the last day of school the previous year, he wanted to punch himself in the face for being such a jerk. Sure, he'd pretty much just been doing what she'd asked of him, when she'd said she wanted everything to go back to how it had been in the beginning of sophomore year, but he hadn't had to be so cruel to her. Especially since a part of him was telling him that she didn't really mean what she'd said-she was just angry that he wouldn't just give up and agree with her. But, Puck wasn't like Finn. He wouldn't admit he was wrong unless he actually was wrong.

Which meant that he would give her what she'd asked for, when she'd said all she wanted from him was to be able to forget that they'd ever once been in love.

So, he entered school on the first day wearing his football uniform and a pair of jeans, holding a slushy-a blueberry one, which just so happened to be her least favorite flavor of them all-and made his way towards her locker, finding her standing there, laughing, with a tall, blonde haired boy.

He gulped, forcing himself to keep walking. It pained him to draw his arm back and launch the slushy towards the happy little couple, drenching the boy in his jeans and tee shirt, and Rachel in her tight fitting top and short skirt. He was fairly certain the boy was Sam Evans, which made him not mind slushying the kid so much. Because Sam had been a large part of his break-up with Rachel, and no matter how much he pretended he was okay with it, he wasn't.

"What the hell?" Sam asked, glaring at Puck, who had stopped right in front of them, something he never did when slushying somebody. He typically just kept on walking, not waiting to see their reaction.

"It's fine, Sam," Rachel muttered. "This happens all the time," She shook her head.

"This has happened to you before? Why the hell didn't you tell me, Rae? And who the hell are you?" He asked, crossing her arms as he took a step closer to McKinley's local bad ass.

"Sam," Rachel whispered, reaching out and trying to pull him back.

"Rachel! I've missed you so much! We have-WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PUCKERMAN?" Santana Lopez screamed, storming down the hallway and towards Rachel, her best friend. "Since when do you slushy Rachel again?" The latino cheerleader asked, crossing her arms as she stood besides the tiny brunette.

"This is that Puck kid you dated?" Sam asked, his eyes darting between Rachel and Puck.

"Yes," Rachel muttered.

"I thought you said I didn't need to kick his ass. You said it was fine, Rae," Sam said, his eyes filled with pain. "Why'd you lie to me?" He whispered, turning back towards her.

"Because I didn't want you to do anything stupid over a jack ass like him-listen, can I just borrow one of your hoodies that you keep in your car?" She wondered, holding her hands out.

"Yeah, sure," He sighed, dropping a set of keys into them.

Santana glared at Puck one more time before leading the girl away. That left Puck and Sam standing there alone in the hallway, a decent sized crowd waiting to see what would happened between the new boy who seemed so close and protective towards Rachel, and her ex-boyfriend who they'd all assumed still had feelings for her.

"What do you want, high lights?" Puck asked. He took a step towards the blonde haired kid, trying to figure out where his advantages would be if it came down to an actual, physical fight between the two of them. They were about evenly matched in height, but Puck was fairly certain that he had the advantage when it came to muscle mass.

"I want you to stay away from Rachel. Don't throw slushies at her. Don't talk to her or about her. Don't look at her. Don't bully her. I want you to lay off and stop being a total jack ass, just because you're still into her," Sam glared at him.

"I'm not into that little slut,"

"Don't call her that-she's not a slut. She's a _girl _and she's nice and actually has class, unlike the other girls you probably bring around. Now, lay off of Rachel, or next time, I won't be so nice," Sam warned, pushing Puck back and walking away, shaking his head in disgust.

And he left Puck standing there, wondering what the hell had happened that he was getting pushed around by some new kid with high lights, over a girl like Rachel Berry. And wondering how the hell he was going to get through his junior year without wanting to kill somebody, because of the obvious bond between the love of his life and this new kid.


	35. Chapter 35

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 35  
****_A/N: So, I was watching CHOKE earlier this morning and I got really annoyed that the cougars and Puck's wicked mean-and slightly scary-geography teacher called him Noah. I mean, come on! That's a special nickname for people he holds close to his heart, not evil teachers and married women who sleep with him. Anyways, just had to let that out. On with the chapter now? Okay, enjoy!_**

Noah Puckerman had no friends left to talk to. He had absolutely nobody to turn to, except for Finn Hudson-who, despite their rocky past from the previous year, had once been his best friend for reasons besides pure jealousy. Once, the pair had been best friends because they'd actually liked one another, and Puck was hoping that Finn still remembered that. The other person he had left to turn to was Brittany Pierce, but he refused to sink that low until he had no other options left for him. He didn't think that he was that desperate-not yet, anyways. But, out of his many friends from the previous year, he had nobody left except for his newest enemy. And it was all because of Rachel Berry-sweet, _innocent _Rachel Berry who could do no wrong in the world.

Mike Chang had opted to take the side of his good buddy, Legs, forgetting about his old motto to always put bros before hoes, and he'd gone as far as to take Matt Rutherford with him, even though Matt would only be moral support for Puck, since he'd transferred schools over the the summer and was no longer around for him.

Artie Abrams, as Rachel had said, was her friend, and he was working almost as hard as that new kid was to protect her from the jocks' prying eyes and Puck's bullying. His support was probably mostly because Tina Cohen-Chang had left him for Mike, and Rachel was there as a shoulder to cry on for the boy who'd been cheated on and dumped without a second thought in the matter. Rachel had always been nice like that. But, Tina, as well as Mercedes Jones, had taken the brunette's side-apparently they understood that it was important to put their sex before the one they were attracted to. The fact that Tina's new boyfriend had also taken Rachel's side probably didn't hurt either.

And Kurt Hummel, was, well...Kurt. So of course he would take the side of his fellow diva, who just so happened to be his best friend. They were too alike for them to go without fighting, but they were also much too alike, with dreams that were too similar to be anything other than best friends. Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray were also on Rachel's side, which was no surprise to Puck. Rachel could have slept with Finn, cheating on Puck, and then started dating Karofsky and they would still blame Puck.

Which was entirely unfair, because the whole cause of the break-up had been the fact that Rachel had overreacted to an innocent comment made by Puck, which was pretty much made based on his own opinion. It hadn't been fair for Rachel to ask him to admit he was wrong and change his way of thinking just because it was different from her own. So, he hadn't, and she'd left him. And that was the cause of this entire mess. It was not his fault. Not all of it anyways. Most of it, wasn't his fault.

But, he had nobody in the entire school to talk to, and he needed some sort of friend. Which would explain why he was standing next to Finn Hudson's locker, waiting patiently with his arms crossed as the tall boy stared into his locker in confusion, causing Puck to wonder what could be so hard about gathering what was needed to go to _lunch. _

_"_PUCK!" Finn exclaimed as he finally shut his locker and turned towards his ex-best friend, reaching out and slapping him on the shoulder the way they once had.

Puck frowned, trying to figure out what could have caused Finn to momentarily forget that he was supposed to hate Puck, because he'd not only slept with Quinn while she and Finn were dating, but he'd started to date Rachel, not caring that Finn and Rachel were supposed to be the ideal school couple. Something must have happened to confuse him so much that he actually thought that the two were still friends.

"Hey, Finn," Puck glared as the blonde new kid-Sam Evans-approached the pair.

"SAM!" Finn grinned, high fiving him as he turned and smiled at his apparent new best friend. "RACH!" He said excitedly, hugging the small girl tightly. And Puck was shocked that Rachel was hugging him back, and then allowed Finn to wrap his arm around her tiny waist.

Well, that answered his question for what could have changed in Finn. Finn was always happy, as long as he'd gotten what he'd wanted and he'd won.

"I...I have to go," Puck muttered, turning around and heading towards the cafeteria, searching for his last resort.

"BRITTANY!" He grinned, sliding into the seat besides her and wrapping an arm around the pale cheerleading who was seated with the other Cheerios who were all looking up to her as if she were their ruler and the only person keeping them popular. "Just the girl I was looking for," He grinned as she flipped a buttery blonde curl over her shoulder and smirked.

"Whaddya want?" She asked, raising her pale eyebrows and narrowing her grey-blue eyes at him. Most guys found this attractive, but Puck thought it made her look suspcious and not at all sexy. Then again, he didn't find many girls sexy, because he was always comparing them to Rachel.

"You care if I come over tonight?" He asked her, giving her a wink. If Rachel wanted to go back to obsessing over Finn, then Puck was going to go back to his sex-shark ways.


	36. Chapter 36

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 36  
_A/N: I get it-you guys aren't happy with the way the story is going. Well, as I've said before because of my hate-reviews, sometimes, I just start writing and I don't know what's about to happen-the words just come without my control. I'm sorry if you don't like it-I probably wouldn't either if I was just a reader, but if you're upset with the plot line, it's going to get better, I promise. Just stick with me here. _  
**

"We need to talk," Puck sighed as he glanced up at the scrawny boy who had approached him, an angry hint to his voice. Kurt Hummel was standing before him with his arms crossed and a glare on his face to match the scowl that his mouth had formed. "And I know we aren't friends and all that, but it's about Rachel, and I know that you care about _her," _He said.

Just as Kurt had assumed, that did grab Puck's attention. He studied Kurt, raising his eyebrows and nodding for him to continue. Kurt slid into a seat across from Puck in the cafeteria-after Puck had made his date with Brittany, he'd left her to go and sit by himself in a back corner table, where he could freely watch every move Rachel made so he could see exactly what was going on between her and Finn-because even if she wanted them to act as if they'd never been together-he would never stop being jealous of her. After all, the slushies had begun because he hadn't wanted a single person to be able to date her. Apparently, though, that plan had backfired, because nobody seemed to care that Rachel had once been marked a loser in such an obvious and cruel way.

"What about her?" He wondered, leaning back on the two back legs of his chair and crossing his arms.

"She didn't break up with you because you were talking about how no guy could just be friends with a girl, without having perverted thoughts. She broke up with you because she was afraid," Kurt blurted.

"Afraid? What the hell was she afraid of?" Puck asked, raising his eyebrows as he propped forward, leaning forward against the table as he looked at Kurt suspiciously. "And why are you helping me? I was a jerk to you, and I've been a jerk to Rachel since the break-up. So why are you helping me?" He wondered, trying to figure out why anybody would help him without some sort of ulterior motive. After all, he was Noah Puckerman-the school's jerk and the idiot who had broken Rachel Berry's heart of gold on her first real run in the dating world, and nobody would ever let him forget that.

"Unlike you, I'm not all bad and I don't only look for the bad in people-and don't say that's a lie, because you've done with with every single person in this school since day one, even Rachel. You've just had a harder time finding her faults-but she has many, and I'll give you a well organized list if the need ever arises for that," Kurt answered briskly. "But, she was afraid of how strongly she felt about you. Rachel's a young, naive girl who believes in fairytales-and she was afraid of you being her prince," Kurt explained.

"She was afraid of me? What, did she think I was going to hurt her? She knows I'd never do that! I love her!" Puck announced, shock filling his face as he stared at the scrawny boy sitting across from him. "And if she's afraid...well...what can I do to fix it?" He asked Kurt, his voice soft.

"That's exactly what she's afraid of-how much she loves you. She's afraid that you're not everything she's built you up to be in her head, and she's afraid that you don't feel the same way about her, which is absolutely ridiculous, because we all can tell how into her you are. After all, you have a special Rachel look and an even more special Rachel smile-don't deny it and don't get all embarrassed-it's one hundred percent true and you know it!" Kurt said.

"I wasn't going to deny it, Hummel-I love her, and I'm not afraid to admit it. And I'd rather die than hurt her. It's been the worst months of my life since we broke up. It's been exactly five months, today, since the last time she's been my girlfriend. Five months and a day since the last time we've kissed and five months and-"

"I don't want to hear about your sex life with Rachel," Kurt cut him off.

"You know, you sort of grow on people, Hummel," Puck told him, finding himself chuckling at how very red Kurt's face got, no matter how aloof he tried to remain when stopping Puck from talking about his sex life.

"Yeah, well, you do too, I guess-then again, so does cancer," Kurt shrugged. "Oh, but, by the way-just a little helpful advice-if you want Rachel back, you probably shouldn't meet up with Brittany tonight," He warned, pushing his chair back and about to stand up to leave Puck alone, once again.

"When I said I'd hit that...well, I meant with my truck," Puck rolled his eyes. "Now, what am I supposed to do to convince her that I'm not going to hurt her?" Puck asked.

"Dude, we're talking about Rachel here-what the hell do you think you're supposed to do to make her listen?" Kurt asked, shaking his head as he walked away, allowing realization to dawn on Puck after a few moments thought.

"Damn, I'm an idiot," He said, shaking his head.

* * *

"Rachel, I need to talk to you," Puck said, entering the choir room during her free period. She was alone in there, sitting at the piano and tapping a few notes repeatedly, as if trying to come up with some song that she knew, but not well enough to play the whole thing by heart.

"I don't mind you talking so much, as long as you don't mind me not listening," She smirked at him as he took a seat besides her on the piano bench. She moved farther away from him, shaking her head as she stared at him in disgust.

"It's really important-it's about us," He told her.

Rachel turned and stared at him in disbelief. "I have to admit-I'm a little impressed. I've never me such a small mind inside such a big head before," She said, shaking her head. "There is no us anymore. We broke up, alright? We broke up because you think you're always right and you know what everyone's like, just because that's what you were-and are-like. Well, some guys have class and matters. Not every guy in the world is a total pervert, alright, Puckerman? And I hate to admit that I was actually starting to really, absolutely fall in love with you, because now I know that I was only setting myself up for heartbreak and disaster!" She said in that Rachel Berry rant type of way that he found one hundred percent adorable.

"Okay, so I get that you don't want to talk to me, and that's okay-I understand and I accept that. But I know a way that you _will _listen to me, because it's just wired into you to watch and listen whenever anybody's performing, especially when it's meant and dedicated to you," He told her, standing up and grabbing his guitar from where he stored it in the choir room. "So, I got a song all ready for you," He smiled as he started to strum the notes.

_"I am insensitive, I have a tendency to pay more attention to the things that I need/Sometimes I drink too much, sometimes I test your trust/Sometimes I don't know why you're staying with me/I'm hard to love, hard to love/I don't make it easy/I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood/I'm hard to love, hard to love/You say that you need me/I don't deserve it, but I love that you love me good," _He sang, strumming the guitar as he walked around the piano so that he could stand right in front of her, looking down at her as he played each note and sang along.

_"I am a short fuse, I am a wrecking ball/Crashing into your heart like I do/You're like a Sunday morning full of grace and full of Jesus/I wish that I could be more like you/I'm hard to love, hard to love/I don't make it easy/I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood/I'm hard to love, hard to love/You say that you need me/I don't deserve it but I love that you love me good-love me good," _Rachel rolled her eyes and stood up, about to walk away as he began that second verse, but he followed right along with her, not leaving her side, even as she entered the hallway and started walking towards her locker. He kept on playing and he kept on singing. He didn't care what anybody said and he didn't care what Mike or Sam or Artie would do to him. All that he could remember or think about were Kurt's guarantees that Rachel did, in fact, still love him.

_"Give you've given me a million second chances/And I don't ever wanna take you for granted/I'm just a man-I'm just a man/Hard to love, hard to love/Oh, I don't make it easy/And I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood/I'm hard to love, hard to love/And you say that you need me/I don't deserve it but I love that you love me good/Hard to love, hard to love/Oh I don't make it easy/And I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood/I'm hard to love, hard to love/You say that you need me/I don't deserve it but I love that you love me good/You love me good," _He finished the song, looking up at her with a small, sad smile on his face and eyes full of a sad type of honesty she rarely ever saw from him.

"Meet me in the auditorium after glee, today, alright? We'll talk then-but don't mention it to anybody," She hissed before turning around and running off.

Puck didn't care where she was going. He was one step closer to get his girl back, and that was all that mattered to him. And, just in case she didn't want to listen to his words, he had another song up his sleeve, all ready to serenade her with in order to win her back. Because that was all he really cared about.

* * *

Rachel Berry had her solo for the first day of Glee all picked out. She'd been working on it all summer. And now, she was all set to perform it. She grinned at Mercedes before squeeze Sam's hand. She turned around and winked at Finn before standing up and breezing by Quinn and Santana. She tapped Artie's shoulder gently as she walked by, giving Mike a thumbs up as she stood in the center of the room, smiling reassuringly at Tina, before embracing the warm smile Kurt had flashed at her. And then she shared a small little look with Puck as the music began and she started to sing.

"_They all lives happily, happily, happily ever after/The couple is happily leaving the chapel, eternally tied/As the curtain descends there is nothing but loving and laughter/When the fairy tale ends, the heroine's always a bride/Ella the girl of the cinders/Did the wash and the walls and the winders/But she landed a prince who was brawny and blue eyed and blonde/Still I honestly doubt that she could have ever done it without that/Crazy lady with the wand," _She began, leaning against the piano with her thin in the palm of the hand. As she finished that part, though she pushed off it before crying in outrage, "Cinderella had outside help!" And then she resumed singing, each note perfect and flawless. _  
_

_"I've got no one but me/Fairy godmother-godmother-godmother, where can you be? I haven't god a fairy god mother/I haven't got a godmother/I have a mother-a plain, ordinary woman/Snow white was so pretty they tell us, that the queen was insulted and jealous/When the mirror declared that Snow White was the fairest of all/She was dumped on the border/But was saved by some men who adored her/Oh I grant you they were small/But there were seven of them-practically a regiment/I'm alone in the night/By myself not a dwarf not an eld, not a goblin in sight!" _She continued to sing, pacing the area in front of her fellow glee club members as she sang, before stopping and crossing her arms, pouting as she spoke. "That girl had seven little men working day and night, just for her," and then she went back to her song.

_"Oh sure the queen gave her a poisoned apple-even so/ She lived happily, happily, happily ever after/A magical kiss counteracted the apple eventually/Though I know I'm not clever, I'll do what they tell me I hafta/I want some happily ever after to happen to me/ Rapunzel had platinum tressed/That were double the length of her dresses/She was kept in a tower for years by a wicked old witch/ Til one night in despair down/She scrambled by letting her hair down/That's what I call quite a switch," _She continued to sing, stopping a yanking at a strand of hair as she spoke. "I wonder...no-it'll never hold," She shook her head as she quickly got back into character and resumed her solo.

_"I'll be finished before I begin, and besides/ I don't want to get out-I want to get in! I want to live happily, happily, happily ever after/I want to walk happily out of the chapel eternally tied/For I know I'll never life happily ever after til after-I'm a bride/Then I'll be happily, happy-yes happily happy/And thoroughly satisfied!" _She finished the song with a cross of her arms and smirk-a secretive wink aimed right at Puck who smiled back.

And then she was greeted by the familiar sound of applause that she hadn't heard in months.


	37. Chapter 37

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 37**

"What's up with the secret rendezvous?" Puck asked, raising his eyebrows as he walked towards the stage, where Rachel Berry was sitting, her legs dangling over the edge, cross at the ankles. She looked incredibly beautiful, in her sexy, tiny little outfit with the wedges that looked like torture devices. Her hair was glossy and shiny, falling down her back with bangs that probably needed a trim, with how close they were to her dark, deep brown eyes, covered by those thick eyelashes that could be used as weapons, making any boy fall under her spell. He propped himself up onto the stage and sat down besides her.

"Sam doesn't want me talking to you. He doesn't think its healthy for me to keep holding onto you," She explained. "Mike agrees-he says I should treat it like a bandage, and just tear it off with one quick rip," She went on. "Even Artie doesn't think I should waste anymore time and energy, focusing on you and what we had once," She concluded.

He nodded, listening to her. He supposed that those jerks were right, despite what he'd rather believe. When somebody took a glance at Rachel and his relationship, it would seem like he was the jerk-provoking little fights, getting jealous easily, moving fast for such an innocent girl. He'd gone back to his old self after they'd broken up, but it was a bit like _My Sister's Keeper _in the sense that nobody but the two of them knew that Rachel had insisted that it be that way once again.

Still, it bothered him that Rachel was agreeing to meet him, but only in secret because it would please Sam. It made him upset that she was worried about what Mike thought was good for and that she was taking Artie's thoughts into consideration.

Wasn't she worried about what she thought would make her happy? DIdn't she have any thoughts on the matter for herself? Or was she going to change from that confident girl he'd fallen for the year before and turn into the person who would surrender their own happiness just to please the people around her?

"And what about you? What's going to make you happy?" He wondered, angling his eyes towards her, his head still lowered towards the ground as he spoke. He didn't want to have to look at her if she was going to say that she agreed. He didn't want to have eye contact with her if she was only going to break his heart. It would hurt him too much, especially since she would then get to see just how much power she held over him. She'd be able to know how much her chose could kill him on the inside, and he didn't want her to know that. People might know he was in love, but that didn't mean he had to let everybody know he was turning into a pussy about it.

"I want...I want to be with you, but I don't want to worry them or make them upset," She whispered, lifting her head to stare at him, waiting and wishing that he'd look at her.

It was killing her that he wouldn't look at her, because she wanted to see his reaction to her words. Because she knew her words were cruel, cold, and heartless. She was willing to give up her own happiness to make others happy, but in doing so, she was also acting as if she didn't care about the boy she loved, just to please her friends. And she knew that was wrong, but she wanted to know what he thought of it, because she knew that he most likely wouldn't agree that she was wrong.

"Then...we'll keep it a secret, until you're ready to tell everybody," He nodded, turning and looking at her, that half smile he was so famous for filling his face as he looked at her, loving the way her eyes brightened up almost immediately as soon as her milk chocolate ones mixed with his hazel ones. Together, they were like Nutella.

"I don't want to have to hide you," She whispered. It was wrong of her to do that to him. To cast him aside as if he wasn't good enough for her, only to meet up with him in secretive hiding places where they'd never be discovered by other people for their make-out sessions. She didn't want to have some sort of Romeo and Juliet romance. She wanted to have a relationship in which she could walk down the halls, holding his hand so everybody knew they were together. She wanted to be able to kiss him whenever, and go out on dates. She didn't want to hide him.

"Rachel, I know that you wouldn't be hiding me because you don't think I'm good enough. You'd be hiding me so you didn't have to listen to your friends. And, honestly? I'd rather be with you, even for a small amount of time in some stupid hiding place, than not be allowed to hold you in my arms again. I just want to be with you-I don't care if its literally or figuratively. I want to be your boyfriend again, even if I can't tell anybody, because when I'm with you, I'm a better person. I don't _want _to be Puck anymore, but you are the only person out there who gives me the courage to be Noah again. So, if it means we have to hide for awhile, so be it. I want to be happy again, and I want you to be happy again-and high school will be over soon, and then it doesn't matter," He said, the intensity in his eyes showing only brutally honest words and emotion that couldn't be faked.

"Alright...but I'm going to tell people-slowly, but eventually, we'll be able to go public again. I'm going to slowly prepare them for it, alright?" She offered.

He didn't answer her. He just leaned in and kissed her, his hands locked on her shoulders, waiting for her response, which came almost immediately. Her arms locked around his neck, pulling him closer to her as his hands slid down her arms and settled on her waist, tugging at her hips for a moment until she was on his lap. Their tongues met and danced together for a few seconds before Rachel pulled away, still holding his neck and smiling at him.

"God, I've missed that," She muttered, leaning in to kiss him again.

"Wait-Rach, I've gotta...I had another song ready for you, if the last one didn't work," He said, jumping to his feet, holding her bridal style before setting her on her own feet. He grabbed his guitar from the case he'd brought with him and wrapped the strand around his neck, smiling at her as he started to play.

"But I wanna-"

"We've got all the time in the world for that, no shush and let me sing to you!" He told her, loving the irony of how their roles seemed to have reversed, turning her into the sex-starved one, and himself into the one with a love of performances. "Oh, by the way," He said, pausing his playing for a second. "I picked this song when I thought you were either with Finn or Sam," He told her as he resumed the notes and started to sing, loving her shocked and angry reaction.

"_I was dreaming of the past/And my heart was beating fast/I began to lose control/I began to lose control/I didn't mean to hurt you/I'm sorry that I made you cry/Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you/I'm just a jealous guy/I was feeling insecure/You might not love me anymore/ I was shivering inside/I was shivering inside/Oh, I didn't mean to hurt you/I'm sorry that I made you cry/Oh, no, I didn't want to hurt you/I'm just a jealous guy/I didn't mean to hurt you/I'm sorry that I made you cry/Oh, no, I didn't want to hurt you/I'm just a jealous guy/I was trying to catch your eyes/Thought that you was trying to hide/I was swallowing my pain/I was swallowing my pain/I didn't mean to hurt you/I'm sorry that I made you cry/Oh, no, I didn't want to hurt you/I'm just a jealous guy-watch out/I'm just a jealous guy, look out, babe/I'm just a jealous guy," _He finished the song smoothly, abononding his guitar so it swung around to hand from his back.

"And now you may feel free to attack me like the rock star that I just so happen to-"He never got to finish, because she raced into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him. He met her with his arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground just enough as he kissed her back.

"By the way-was that song some kind of hint that I'm supposed to marry you?" He asked her, pulling away for a second and raising his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and kissed him again.

If dating Rachel secretively meant he'd get a reaction like this from her all the time, he'd have to make it last a while. Or, maybe it was just from his incredible singing-maybe he could sing her more solos...


	38. Chapter 38

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
CHapter 38**

"What'd you do while I was at try outs?" Sam asked as he met up with Rachel outside of the locker room, wrapping an arm around his best friend's shoulders, his hair wet from the shower he'd just taken after his long football tryout.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just practicing some songs I might sing for Glee, you know?" She asked with a smile. If Sam had been Puck, or Santana, or Quinn-another girl, who knew all about the different types of smiles a girl could have, or somebody who knew all of Rachel's facial expressions by heart-he would have known that this smile was just a little bit too thin and a little too long. "I think I might be running out of musicals," She said, a joke that would have had Puck laughing hysterically, but only made Sam raise his eyebrows and frown in confusion.

"I love it when you sing," He told her, leading her out of the school and towards the parking lot. "You're incredible, did I ever tell you that? You're going to be famous one day, I'm sure of it," He promised her as he held open the door to his truck, helping her inside before walking around and getting in himself.

"You tell me that all the time," She rolled her eyes, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, it's true," He said, starting up the truck. "Do you care if I come over today? I've been working on a song and I'd like your opinion of it," He told her.

"What song?" She asked.

"Oh, just a silly song I've been working on for this girl I've been sort of into for a while now," He said.

"Do I know her?"

"No...I don't think so," He frowned.

"Oh, so she's from Tennessee?"

"No."

"Then where's she from?"

"I just...know her, from around."

"Oh, um, alright, then-yeah, you can come over. My dads are out of town, though, so I-"

"They're not home?"

"No, they're going to be gone all week."

"So you're alone?"

"Mrs. Puckerman is going to be stopping by to check up on me. She and my dads are-"

"_Puck's _mom?"

"Yes, Sam," She rolled her eyes, getting a little annoyed with him cutting her off for pointless questions that were just making her repeat herself. She hated it when he did that, and she was sure that he knew she hated it. And she was positive that he knew that she knew of his knowledge of the fact. "Noah's mother is going to check in on me-it's an arrangement my fathers made with her years ago, because they're rather close, alright?"

"Oh, alright..." Sam sighed, turning onto her street. "Are you going to be home alone for dinner tonight? You could come over and eat with my family-Stevie and Stacy really miss you, you know-or, you and I could just go out and get something, if you wanted to," He offered, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"No," She blurted out. "I mean, well, Mrs. Puckerman invited me over for dinner, when she first found out about my fathers' trip, and it would be rude of me to cancel now, even if the last place I want to be is with Noah for the night," She said quickly.

"Oh, okay, then-are you going to need a ride? Or, do you want one?" He offered.

"No, that's alright," She shook her head. "Noah's going to pick me up-his mother insisted on that, despite what either of us wanted in the matter," She shrugged. She was lying through her teeth. Her parents _w_ere out of town, and the agreement was that Mrs. Puckerman would be checking in on her, but her dinner plans hadn't been made until she and Puck had hooked back up after glee rehearsal that afternoon, as a way for them to secretly get together. _  
_

"Are you sure? I could give you a ride-it's really no big deal," He offered, pulling into her driveway. "I _want _to," He insisted, opening his door and climbing out of the truck, dragging his guitar with him.

"No, it's fine-Noah's much better outside of school than he is when he's actually there-especially around his mother. I'll be fine," She shrugged as she climbed from the car and walked into the house, allowing Sam to follow her as she settled on the couch in the living room with him besides her. "Can I get you a snack or anything? I know Noah used to-"

"I don't want to talk about him," Sam shook his head. "Can I just sing you the song?" He asked.

"Of course!" She nodded eagerly.

"Alright," He nodded as he took out his guitar and started strumming before starting with his perfect for country voice, the song something that was most definitely not country, but still sounded amazing coming from him.

_"My girlfriend's got a boyfriend, funny/He doesn't make a dime all day/And all her girlfriends' boyfriends make money/What more can I say/It's true-he never made it through a day of school/The only thing he studied was you/He knows your body better than you do/ Maybe I'm your Mr. Right, baby/Maybe I'm the one you like/Maybe I'm a shot in the dark/And you're the morning light/Maybe this is sad but true/Baby, maybe you've got nothing to lose/You could be the best of me/When I'm the worse for you," _He sang, his head lowered towards the guitar with such intensity, until he reached the chorus, where the true meaning behind this song began. He looked up and locked eyes with her, causing her to gulp as he went on singing.

_"My girlfriend's got a boyfriend, running/To catch the bust to meet/To meet up with the boyfriend's girlfriend who's stunning/She's such a sight to see/It's true-the moment he laid eyes on you he knew/The only wish he wanted came true, he knows he's lucky that he met someone like you," _He sang on, frowning slightly as she stood up, shaking her head and sat down across from him, on the love seat. He quickly got up and followed her.

_"Maybe I'm your Mr. Right/Baby, maybe I'm the one you like/Maybe I'm a shot in the dark/And you're the morning light/Maybe this is sad but true/Baby, maybe you've got nothing to lose/You could be the best of me/When I'm the worst for you," _He sang, shaking his head as she stood up and started to walk away, with him following her.

_"You can always change your mind/And you, can't change mine/No, you can't change mine/Maybe I'm your Mr. Right/Baby, maybe I'm the one you like/Maybe I'm a shot in the dark/And you're the morning light/Maybe this is sad but true/Baby, maybe you've got nothing to lose/You could be the best of me/When I'm the worst for you/I'm the worst for you," _He finished the song with his eyes locked on her own, pushing his guitar aside, swinging it from his back in the same fashion Puck had earlier that day, so that it was no longer between them. Then, he placed his hand on her cheek and leaned in, slowly and carefully, placing a slow and steady kiss on her lips, just as the front door opened and in walked a very happy-until he saw the scene inside the house-boy, who suddenly grew angry when he saw the kissing couple.


	39. Chapter 39

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 39**

Puck knew that he was early to pick up Rachel, but he didn't care. He had a bouquet of blood red roses-her favorite flowers-in his hands, and he wanted to spend a little alone time with her before he brought her to his house for their dinner that night. He'd parked his truck around the block, so nobody would wonder what it was doing there. He'd given himself a lot of credit in this plan, because he'd thought about everything that could go wrong and he'd found a way to ensure that it wouldn't go wrong. The only thing he hadn't planned on, was that Rachel wouldn't be alone when he got there.

He'd noticed the truck parked in her driveway, but he hadn't really given it a second thought. He'd figured Sam was just dropping her off and saying goodbye to her. He hadn't imagined that he'd walk into her house and spot her pressed up against the wall in the front foyer, with Sam's hands on her face and her shoulders, holding her in place, kissing her, with her hands locked firmly on his shoulders. He clenched the flowers a little bit tighter as he studied the scene before him, trying to assess it before getting too angry and overreacting, pushing her from his own arms and into this bleached blonde loser's arms.

If Puck hadn't known Rachel so well, and known exactly how she reacted to each and every type of kiss there was, he would have been angry. He would have been jealous. He would have started screaming and throwing punches from the second he'd walked through the door. But he _did _know Rachel and he knew exactly how she kissed-from how she held onto the boy she was kissing, to how her face looked during a kiss. He even knew the sounds she'd make when she was really into it. And he was looking to say exactly how she was acting during this particular kiss, before he did anything too hasty.

Normally, Rachel's hands wound themselves around his neck or his face-she never grabbed his shoulders, not when they were standing up or leaning against something. And when she did grab his shoulders, her hands slid down his arms and back up again, never staying in one place for long. At that particular moment, her hands were locked firmly on Sam's shoulders, flat palmed as if she'd been trying to push the tall, strong football player off of her. They weren't holding onto him, and they weren't moving. They were just...there, as if she'd needed a place to put them.

Rachel also normally had her eyes shut in a half-open type of way, but right now they were clenched tightly closed and her face was scrunched up, rather than relaxed like it always was with him. Her nose was wrinkled in distaste and her cheeks were high, almost to her eyes. Even her eyebrows were wrinkled. And her mouth wasn't doing anything either. It was just blank and simple, against Sam's eager, large lips that were moving everywhere across her own red, glossy, full lips-the lips that belonged to none other than Noah Puckerman, the school's sex shark.

And, more surprising than anything else about her actions during the kiss, was the fact that she was silent, not making a single moan or purr, as she'd always done with him. She wasn't trying to mumble sweet words against Sam's lips, as she'd done to Puck. She was just standing there, rigid, like a board, as he pressed her up against the wall and kissed her, the way young, teenage girls practiced kissing on posters of popular, attractive male teen actors. She wasn't enjoying it and she wasn't engaging in it. And that meant Puck had to kick Sam's ass for harassing and assaulting his girl.

"Get off of her," He snarled, dropping the flowers to the ground and taking a step towards the couple.

Sam used Rachel's shoulders as leverage, pushing himself off of her and turning to face Puck, crossing his arms with a confident smirk on his face. Puck quickly matched it with a determined one.

"Why? It's not like she's your girl anymore," Sam said coyly. "You had your chance, you wrecked it-and now she's single and she can be with whoever she wants to be. And, since that's not you anymore, you don't really get a say in what she does...and that includes _who _she does," He said.

"You don't really think Rachel would have sex with you, do you?" Puck asked, laughing bitterly at the blonde boy before him. "She's single, but she sure as hell ain't desperate. Oh, wait a second-she's not even single anymore," Puck said, taking another step closer to them.

"What? What the hell's he talking about, Rachel?" Sam turned around, frowning at Rachel.

"I...well, Noah and I are-"

"Berry," Puck said, cutting her off with a soft, understanding tone to his voice. "You don't need to explain yourself to him-or what we have, okay?" He said softly.

"She sure as hell does!" Sam snapped. "She told me she was done with you and that you were nothing but a jerk! She led me to believe that she hated you and couldn't stand to be around you! She owes me one hell of an explanation!" Sam said angrily, looking back and forth from Puck to Rachel.

"I knew you'd be angry," Rachel whispered.

"So you _lied _to me?"

"I never-"

"You said you two broke up!"

"We _did!"_

"You never said you got back together!"

"I didn't want to make you angry!"

"Well, news flash? I'm angry now!"

"Sam, I'm sorry, I really am, but...I love him,"

"You love him?" Sam scoffed. "He throws _slushies a_t you! He's thrown Kurt into _dumpsters. _He's humiliated you and bullied you since high school started, and you say that you _love _him? Do you even know what love is?" Sam asked, turning his full attention to her now. "Love is when you can't stop thinking about the person, and all you want is to make the other person happy. It's not when one person acts like he's better than you!"

"He doesn't-"

"Rachel, don't stand there and tell me he doesn't! Why else would he slushy you? Why else would he insult you? Why else would he bully you? He doesn't respect you and he sure as hell doesn't love you! He's not-"Sam never finished, because Puck was holding him against the wall, his tee shirt balled up in Puck's fist as he held him a few inches off the ground, glaring right at him, growling directly into his face. Sam gulped as he tried to squirm his way out of Puck's grip, trying to get away from the obviously angry-and much stronger-boy holding him.

"Don't you _ever _say that I don't love her, got that? Don't put that idea into her head, alright? And I _never _insulted her. I was a jerk to her-I was a bully-I'll admit that I was a total asshole, but I never _insulted _her. I never made her feel like she was ugly and I never made her feel like she was stupid. I'll admit that I probably made her feel like an outcast and a loser, but I would never _insult _her just to bring her down, understand?" Puck asked him, his voice a low sound coming from the back of his throat. "And I _do r_espect her. I never pushed her into anything she didn't want, alright? I would _never d_o that to her!" He said.

"Let me go," Sam protested, not responding to any of Puck's threats or growls. "You're an asshole. You're a punk. And you don't deserve Rachel. You're nothing but a pathetic, no good, neanderthal who thinks that he can bully a girl so that she cries every single night and then come in and make her feel special with a few nice words, only to dump her on her ass later on, after you got what you wanted. Well, I'm not going to let you do that to Rachel, because unlike you, I really do care about her, and I really do love her!" Sam spat at Puck.

"I got what I wanted a long time ago-_her. _Not sex, just being with _her. A_nd then I lost that-repeatedly, because I'm an idiot. But this time, I'm going to hold onto her and keep her, because I love her. BEcause I care about her. And you know what else? We _have _slept together-countless times. And each time was better than the last time. But I'm still trying to stay with her, because I would _never _leave Rachel for some new girl, just because I've already had her. I _love _her. And if you loved her too, you'd let her decide. And I think it's pretty clear that she's picked _me," _Puck said, dropping Sam and smirked as he fell to the ground, landing on his knees.

"You're going to regret this Rachel-you're nothing but a sad, pathetic little slut who'll do anything for a little bit of attention. I bet you only wanted to lie about dating him so that you could have two boyfriends," Sam said, standing up and grabbing his guitar, heading towards the door. "Both of you are going to regret this-I can promise you that." He threatened from the doorway, stepping on Puck's flowers and storming outside, slamming the door shut behind him as he left a tear-filled Rachel Berry and an angry Noah Puckerman standing in the hallway.

"Rachel..."Puck sighed, turning towards her and holding his arms out.

"He was my best friend," She whispered.

"Rach," He said again, walking towards the doorway and picking up the flowers. "I'm sorry," He said, walking towards her.

"He called me a slut," She choked.

"Berry," He said, wrapping her in a hug. He could feel her shoulders shaking as she cried.

"I a_m a_ slut," She whined.

"You're not a slut," He said sternly. "Don't listen to him, okay?"

"But...he's right," She sighed.

"No, he isn't. He's angry and he's jealous. He'll come around, okay?"

"He hates me,"

"Nobody could hate you."

"He ruined your flowers,"

"I know,"

"They were beautiful,"

"So are you," He smiled, pushing her out of the hug slightly and kissing her on the nose. She giggled, a little bit, through the tears as she wrapped herself back in his arms.


	40. Chapter 40

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 40  
_A/N: I'm going to be working really hard to NOT let the song I'm listening to affect my writing right now (Say Goodbye, by Chris Brown) because that would suck for everybody, including me. Anyways, this chapter goes out to LexiPuckerman! _  
**

__"What if everybody hates me when we go back to school tomorrow?" Rachel wondered, cuddling up in Puck's arms on her couch. "I waited so long and I worked so hard to get friends...and what if all that's gone now because of what happened with Sam and you and me?" She wondered, her head resting on his chest. He knew that they should probably get up and head back to his place for dinner, but he didn't want to make her get up, get ready, and leave when she clearly was just starting to get over what had happened. His mom would understand. So, he'd called and ordered her a vegetarian pizza-with a Meat Lover's one for himself, of course.

"If they hate you because you chose to be happy, rather than with Sam, then they aren't real friends," Puck told her, kissing the top of her head. "And you deserve better than that." He whispered into her hair. "And I know the perfect way to cheer you up, by the way," He told her, propping her into an upright position, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and allowing her to rest her head on his shoulders.

"Noah, I'm really not in the mood to have sex right now. Besides, we just got back together so I don't think that's exactly appropriate right now," She said, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling a little, and that was enough for him to continue.

"Hey, I need pizza before I sleep with you-food comes before everything, including sex!" He teased and smiled a little bit as she giggled. "Besides, I was going to say we could watch _Godzilla," _He grinned.

"Ew," She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "That movie's disgusting and I hate what it's about," She shook her ehad.

"We could watch it backwards! Then it's about a giant lizard who kindly helps rebuilt a half burnt down city, before moon walking back into the ocean," He told her with a bright smile on his face.

She rolled her eyes as she shoved him playfully. "You're so stupid," She replied.

"You love it," He shrugged, leaning in and stealing a quick kiss on the lips. "Speaking of which...I've decided that we need to work on our relationship, because I want us to have one of those cute, long relationships were cynical people like Santana look at us and are all, 'damn, they're _still _together', you know?" He asked her, a goofy smile on his face that could match Finn's dopey one any day.

She smiled as she snuggled back into her former position, her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, her arms bent so that her hands were clinging to his own. She sighed in content as she tried to move even close to him, loving how his chin was resting right on the top of her head, as he gave her a few small, quick, sweet little kisses on the top of her head, right in her hair. She loved him-all of him. Every little part of him. And she hated that they'd been apart for so long. But, they were together now, and that was really all that mattered to her.

"They say that Disney World is the happiest place on earth," She told him softly.

"Is that some sort of hint? Because I think we'd have to keep our activities 'family friendly' if we went there.."He trailed off thoughtfully, playing with her long strands of hair.

"No..it's not a hint. Because the people who say that? Well, they must have never been in your arms," She shrugged, snuggling just a little bit closer.

"I think that I kinda, sorta, just maybe...fell for you a little bit more than I'd originally planned," He admitted to her, forcing her into an upright position-he wasn't sure of how much longer he could take, holding her so close with her ass curved perfectly near his little friend, who wanted to be a little bit friendlier with her. He scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her, smiling at her.

She grinned back at him, leaning forward a little, biting her bottom lip as he leaned in as well. And then, right before their lips met one another's, the doorbell rang, followed by a loud, constant knocking sound.

"Damn, that pizza boy's persistent," Puck sighed, moving away from her and standing up, reaching into his back pocket and removing his wallet, heading towards the door.

Rachel waited patiently as he opened the door, only to hear a sarcastic voice fill the room as the door shut.

"Aw, you're going to pay me for visiting my best friend? How adorable," Santana Lopez said snidely as she made her way into the living room, dropping down besides Rachel. "You, my friend, are a very stupid hoe," She said, with a large, friendly smile on her face as she wrapped an arm around her best friend and hugged her. "PUCKERMAN! BRING ME A LAPTOP!" She called loudly, before turning back to the girl besides her.

"Why are you here? I did a stupid thing, and I deserve to have absolutely no friends. I lied and I-"Rachel began, lowering her head sadly.

"Oh, shut up and stop playing the pathetic victim!" Santana rolled her eyes. "I heard about what happened, and I want you to see exactly what Sam posted online, and I want you to see what people are saying, because that's how you're going to learn who your real friends are, alright?" She said sincerely as the doorbell rang again, just as Puck entered the room, holding Rachel's lap top. "Puckerman? The door?" She asked raising her eyebrows as she took the laptop and logged online, getting onto her facebook and giving the screen to Rachel. "Read," She said.

**Sam Evans-I love being lied to and led on by my supposed best friend..._with Rachel Berry  
_Quinn Fabray: What the hell does that mean?  
Sam Evans: She's dating Puckerman  
Brittany .S. Pierce: No she isn't-he's coming over tonight ;)  
Kurt Hummel: In your dreams-I talked to him and he called you a distraction. He loves Rachel  
Quinn Fabray: When the hell did they get back together? Why didn't I hear about this?  
Santana Lopez: If Rachel and Puckerman are back together, it means it happened recently, and she has a good reason  
Sam Evans: Why are you defending her? She lied to all of us  
Kurt Hummel: You claim you're her best friend, yet you don't know the first thing about her  
Mercedes Jones: Rachel never claimed she didn't love him  
Tina Cohen-Chang: If he proved that he wasn't as big of a jerk as he acted like this morning...  
Mercedes Jones: There's no reason she wouldn't take him back  
Quinn Fabray: I am so confused right now!  
Santana Lopez: It's really upsetting that we're all talking about this like we can't believe it happened  
Sam Evans: Um, it's pretty surprising that she'd be such a slut  
Santana Lopez: A)She's not a slut and B)So not what I'm talking about  
Kurt Hummel: She's saying that we all should have known she and Puck would be back together before long  
Quinn Fabray: What is happening what now?  
Santana Lopez: When did she turn into Britt?  
Brittany .S. Pierce: Ew! I don't wanna be Quinn  
Santana Lopez: Nobody was talking to you dip shit!  
Sam Evans: Stop being a bitch-no wonder you're taking her side, you're both bitches and sluts  
Santana Lopez: Oh, I'm going to cut you with the razors in my hair, Trouty Mouth  
Sam Evans: What the hell?  
Santana Lopez: Your mouth **

**Kurt Hummel-Puckleberry is back ON! I haven't been so excited since they decided to do a revival of _Chorus Line _on Broadway!  
Santana Lopez, Mercedes Jones, Tina Cohen-Chang, Artie Abrams, Mike Chang, and 56 other people like this comment  
Santana Lopez: Although I'm not so sure I agree with the musical shit...  
Mercedes: Why didn't Quinn like this?  
Quinn Fabray: Because I'm not so sure she made the right choice...  
SAntana Lopez: In not liking a musical? God, girl-I haven't seen it before!  
Quinn Fabray: I'm talking about Rachel!  
Santana Lopez: She loves that show, though...  
Quinn Fabray: And you called me stupid?  
Santana Lopez: Are you talking about getting back with Puck?  
Quinn Fabray: Duh  
Kurt Hummel: She loves him  
Quinn Fabray: He hurt her  
Mercedes Jones: He clearly made it up to her  
Quinn Fabray: And he attacked Sam and she didn't defend him  
Santana Lopez: Ten bucks he attacked Trouty mouth because he tried to eat Rachel's face with his large mouth  
Sam Evans: Will you quit it with the mouth jokes? **

**Noah Puckerman-I really wish SANTANA LOPEZ would leave so that I could spend some quality ALONE time with my girl...  
Santana Lopez: I'm sorry, but I smell pizza-therefore, I will be staying  
Noah Puckerman: You hate Meat Lovers  
Santana Lopez: There are two pizzas  
Noah Puckerman: One is veggie for Rachel  
Santana Lopez: Screw you for being a good boyfriend!  
Noah Puckerman: That is Rachel's job  
Santana Lopez: I'm leaving-but this isn't the last you've heard from me!**

"Now that she's gone," Puck said, entering the room balancing two paper plates each with a slice of pizza along with a can of soda and a bottle of water. He sat down besides her and closed the laptop, handing her the water and setting the plates down and his drink. "We can have some alone time," He smiled, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.

"Nobody's mad at me-except for Sam..."Rachel marveled.

"I love you," He whispered into her ear.

"Well, except for Quinn, but she's mostly confused..."Rachel went on, ignoring Puck.

"I want you," He growled, kissing her neck.

"Nothing's changed," She said in amazement.

"You're perfect," He said, biting the bottom of her neck gently, sucking on it slightly.

"It's all going to be okay..."She whispered.

"You're killing me," Puck groaned, moving up to kiss her cheek.

"I can't believe nobody's mad," She grinned.

"Oh, frigg it! I give up!" Puck said, standing up and throwing his hands in the air.

"Noah? I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" She asked.

"Was I...talking...Rachel, I was just sitting here kissing you and biting you and whispering sweet things into your ear and you totally blew me off!" He exclaimed, turning to her in amazement.

"Oh," She said.

"That's all you have to say?" He asked, marveling as she took a bit of pizza.

"I think you're over reacting" She shrugged, popping open his can of soda and taking a long sip.

"HEY! That was mine," He whined.

"Too bad," She shrugged.

"I'm going home! This blows," He complained.

"If you'd just sit down and eat your pizza, we could go upstairs and I could make it up to you," She rolled her eyes, taking another sup of his soda. He turned around and hurried back to the couch, eating faster than he ever had in life, practically swallowing his slice of pizza whole before taking a long sip of the water he'd gotten for her and turning to face her, a broad, eager grin on his face.

"I'm ready!" He announced.


	41. Chapter 41

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 41**

****"I want you to wear this," Puck said, handing his letterman jacket to Rachel as they sat in the school parking lot the next morning. "I want you to wear this, walk into that school with your head held high, and my arm around your waist, alright? You didn't do anything wrong, alright? I was the inconsiderate ass. I was the idiot. I was the one who was wrong-"He began to explain, his sad, painfilled eyes locked on the windshield as he spoke. He was sad because he didn't want Rachel to have to go through any torture when she entered that school. But, Rachel cut off his rant.

"It's not your fault. And I should have apologized earlier, but I was wrong. You said that there was no way a guy and a girl could be just friends without one of them thinking about the other in a vulgar, inappropriate way, and I argued with you, over reacted, and dumped you for it. And even when you said that we both just had different opinions, but it was okay, because that would happen, I refused to listen to you. And it turned out that you were right, because clearly Sam did want more than just friendship. So, I'm sorry-for breaking up with you, for being a bitch to you, for over reacting." She said, her eyes locked on the window besides her, not really taking in anything around her.

"Rachel, please don't apologize for that, because then I have to remember that I spent this whole summer cleaning pools and getting hit on by old ladies, but turning them all down because all I wanted was you. Then I have to remember sitting in my living room, playing Call Of Duty and Left For Dead with my _sister _because I was too ashamed to call any of my friends and risk having them give me some kind of lecture about not realizing how stubborn you are. And, you know what, I can't blame you for what you did, because I'm stubborn too. We're both stubborn, alright? That's what makes us so wrong for one another, yet so right. We know we shouldn't be with each other, but because of that fact, we just _have _to. It's just the biggest attraction we have for one another-besides the fact that we're both a couple of hot Jews," He winked at her.

"How the hell did I get so lucky? You're so sweet and so nice to me all the time. You never get mad. I don't deserve you, Noah, and I know you've probably never heard that and that you're going to argue that I'm wrong, so I'm going to kiss you now," She grinned as she turned to look at him, kissing him right then and there.

* * *

The school day had actually been fine, minus Sam Evans jealous glares and Quinn Fabray's avoidance. Nobody had really had anything negative to say. Most people were actually acting as if they were pleased that Rachel and Puck were back together. Their reunion had actually helped seal the deal for Puck and Finn's friendship to come back together, Finn claiming that he'd spent all summer hanging out with Rachel, Sam, Santana, and Quinn, and he'd never seen her smile a real, genuine smile like the one she flashed when Puck was around once the entire time, even when they'd sing.

But, in Glee club? Of course that was where the drama began. Right with Sam's song, because he had to audition, after all.

_"God broke the mold when he made this one I know/She's breathtaking but so much more/She walks in the room your lungs close/ Making you never wanna breath again/Her boyfriend has got so much dough/So much ice his neck and wrist froze/Is he faithful to her? Hell no/But she chose to be with him shorty/Tell me is the money worth your soul/Tell me what's the reason that you hold on/When you know that dude has a whole wall of them just like you/And girl you're just way too fine/Gotta be treated as one of a kind/Girl use your mind/Don't be just another dime/Because I can't take/Seeing you with him/'Cause I know exactly what you'll be in his gallery/ Just now fair/And it's tearing me apart/You're just another priceless work of art in his gallery/She's so confused, she knows she deserves more/Someone who will love and adore/But his money's hard to ignore/She really doesn't know what to do/Girl it's just a matter of time/Before he finds another more fine/After he's done dulling your shine/You're out the door and he's through with you/Tell me is the money worth your soul/Tell me what's the reason that you hold on/When you know that dude has a whole wall of 'em just like you/And girl you're just way too fine/Gotta be treated as one of a kind/Girl use your mind/Don't be just another dime/I can't take, seeing you with him/'Cause I know exactly what you'll be in his gallery/Just not fair and it's tearing me apart/You're just another priceless work of art in his gallery/You're a masterpiece/I know that he can't appreciate your beauty/Don't let him cheapen you/He don't see you like I do/Beautiful not just for show/Time that someone let you know/I can't take seeing you with him/'Cause I know exactly what you'll be, in his gallery/Just not fair and it's tearing me apart/You're just another priceless work of art/I can't take seeing you with him/'Cause I know exactly what you'll be/In his gallery/Just not fair, and it's tearing me apart/You're just another priceless work of art/In his gallery-in his gallery," _Sam sang, and that was when all hell broke loose.

"Does Rachel look like me? Does she look like _any _Cheerio?" Everybody turned towards Santana, but she was just as shocked at the outburst as everybody else was. It took everyone a few seconds to realize that Brittany Pierce, the buttery blonde, had jumped to her feet and was shouting at Sam.

"Well? Does she look like me or Santana or Quinn? Because _we w_ere the 'priceless works of art' that he collected. _We w_ere the latest conquest. He actually _cares a_bout Rachel, alright! It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, alright? And believe me, I've spent a year trying to break them up and he just ignored me. Because he happens to be in love with Rachel, no matter what anybody wants to say, alright?" She crossed her arms.

"In case you haven't noticed," Finn said, standing up besides Brittany. "Rachel hasn't been happy since she and Puck broke up. Maybe you can't tell, because you've never made her truly happy, but we can all tell, because we've seen that smile," He gestured towards Rachel's face. "A million times before, and every single time it was because of Puck. Santana and Quinn could build a gold statue of her and treat her like their god, and she wouldn't smile like that. I could have gone out with her when she'd wanted to, and she wouldn't give me that smile. She could meet that famous singer Barbie Anne she's always talking about and she wouldn't be as happy as Puck makes her!" Finn snapped.

"It's Barbra Streisand, and I think that's pushing my talents just a little too far," Puck spoke up softly.

"Listen, Sam...I get that you're upset because Rachel lied about dating Puck. And we're all a little hurt by that fact, but...well, you're angry mostly because she didn't choose you, and you can't force her to pick you," Quinn said at last.

"And, if you're expecting any of us to take sides-which you are-we're all going to pick Rachel's side, because she's our star and she's always been there for all of us. She listens to us, without judging, and then she helps us out. She's not just some girl who doesn't care about any of us and thinks she's better. She helps us get better and she defends all of us. She cares about her, and it would be wrong of us to pick somebody else's side, just because Rachel chose to be happy," Artie said, which was another shocking voice to hear come to Rachel's defense.

And Mr. Shue stood there in shock, amazed that all it had taken was Rachel's happiness, and one person trying to take that away, to unite his glee club in a way his petty assignments hadn't been able to do in a year.


	42. Chapter 42

_**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 43  
A/N: Here's a filler chapter for you all!**_

"Guns do _not _kill people," Puck argued the next day at lunch while all the Glee kids-minus Sam-sat together. He had his arm draped around Rachel as he and Finn argued over the leading cause of murder among people. "Dads with pretty daughters kill people. Meaning I'm screwed," He said, leaning in to kiss Rachel on the cheek, causing her to giggle as she pushed him away. "It's pretty much the same affect as strict parents who end up with slutty daughters," He shrugged glancing at Rachel from the corner of his eyes and mouthing 'Like Rach' while giving a large, playful smile while she glared at him, shoving him away from her and crossing her arms. She pouted as she stared at Quinn who was sitting across from her.

"Careful, or she'll never watch _Saw _with you," Quinn teased him doing her best to defend Rachel without insulting Puck.

"Well, Rachel and I decided to watch movies she hates backwards now. Because that movie backwards is a beautiful and heartbreaking film about an old man who gives people orgasms," He explained cheerfully

"I wish I was a unicorn," Brittany said suddenly, sensing the tension at the table. Brittany was always good at realizing when things were getting awkward or tense. And she was brilliant at making things go normal again. Rachel had missed that about her. "Because then I could stab all those mofos who give me and my friends a hard time," She shrugged, causing the entire table to burst into hysterics.

"Hey, did all of you guys know that Puck's afraid of spiders?" Mike asked suddenly, surprising everybody with his addition to the conversation. It was something he rarely ever did. Even Tina seemed a little shocked at him. "Yeah, I mean, he was sleeping over one time and he woke up screaming about how the spiders wanted him to tap dance and he said he didn't want to tap dance,so I was all like 'um, yeah, you tell those spiders' and he was like 'oh, yeah, I'll tell them!' and he went back to sleep. Then, the next day, he didn't remember it," Mike laughed.

"That was the longest thing I've ever heard MIke say," Mercedes said in amazement as she studied the boy. "And it was also the dumbest story I've ever heard. It was so freaking random!" She giggled.

"Um, Noah...do you realize that a spider happens to be smaller than you are? I find it a little impossible and hard to believe that a bad ass like you is afraid of a tiny little spider that's more afraid of you then you are of it. It's tinier than your hand. I doubt it could really hurt you. What's there to be afraid of of something that much smaller than you?" Rachel wondered, staring at her boyfriend in amazement.

"A grenage is smaller than me too," Puck muttered. "Anyways, Mike hurts his dog all the time and then starts freaking out and asking it it's okay and it just kind of walks away from him, so he chases after it screaming that the dog should let him love it," He rolled his eyes as he told an embarrassing story about Mike. "And, besides any of that-Finn goes out and gets pedicures!" He announced before leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms as he grinned proudly at the people across from him, acting as if he had done something actually important.

"What the hell did I do to get brought into this?" Finn asked. "We're not friends anymore," Finn decided.

"Fine, don't be my friends. I'll buy some new friends!" Puck said happily, smiling. Mike laughed, snorting a little at his comment and Puck glared at him. "You are not allowed to laugh at my jokes. We're no longer friends," He decided. Everybody booed him, Rachel scooting her chair away as she made the sign of the cross in front of her face. "My life is an embarrassment," Puck decided, nodding at everybody around him. "I should go live under some chairs," He said, causing everybody to laugh. He made a fist and pulled it downward in the sign of victory guys always seemed to do when they got their way. THen he reached out and pulled Rachel close, giving her another kiss on the cheek as she giggled.

Rachel smiled, secretly enjoying the lunch period they were all having. They were teasing one another, sure. They were acting stupid and immature, whatever. They were being friends, all of them, and they were having fun. For once, they were all acting like a family, and that made her happy. She'd wanted to have real friends since she was little, and now she finally did. And she even had a boyfriend who loved her even more than she loved him.

"Ah, yes, humor based on my pain. Ha, ha, very funny," Puck rolled his eyes.

"You know what I've noticed about teen book series that are mega famous? We've got our generation, with Harry POtter-the boy who lived, and the new generation with Katniss-the girl on fire. And then there's the middle generation who has Bella Swan-the girl who did nothing," Rachel spoke up, ignoring her boyfriend's self-mourning.

"I'm glad we're all friends," Santana said suddenly. "And I propose we have a party on Friday night," She declared. "My parents will be out of town and it will be the perfect way for us to bond. But, of course, we all have to promise to not get jealous during drunken games of spin the bottle. And whoever tells Sam about the party will be locked in the closet with him for the entire party," She threatened.

"Works for me," Rachel shrugged.

"I thought we were having sex that night?" Puck asked.

"Puck, do you only have a one track mind?" Quinn wondered.

"When it comes to Rachel? Yeah, he does," Mike nodded.

"Why are we always ganging up on Puck?" Finn asked.

"Because it's easy," Mercedes giggled.

"This is true," Kurt nodded.

"Anyways, the party sounds like a great idea," Tina nodded.

"I'm pumped," Artie agreed.

"Can we all sleep over after wards? Well, the girls and Kurt?" Brittany asked.

"Der duh!" Santana exclaimed pleasantly.


	43. Chapter 43

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 43**

"Rach? Hurry up already! Santana's going to be pissed if you're late for being early...whatever that means," Puck rolled his eyes as he sat on his girlfriend's bed, waiting for her to finish getting ready.

"She'll also be pissed if I don't show up looking beyond hot," Rachel rolled her eyes as she exited the bathroom, her hair styled in a carelessly messy, wind-blown style that Puck found exactly how she'd just described.

"But you always look like that," He pointed out, observing her long legs that were left bare by her short little black one shoulder mini dress with the silver sparkles in it. She was in her closer now, searching for a pair of shoes.

"That's what you think. Not Santana or anybody else. And besides, you're required to think that, so it doesn't even count," She rolled her eyes as she sat on the edge of her bed, putting on a pair of black heels that looked like torture chambers.

"Well, I'm glad that my opinion means so much to you. It's nice to know that I matter to you, you know? I always like hearing that I'm important," He said sarcastically, running a hand through his mohawk.

"Well, you do refer to everything I do as bad-ass..."She trailed off, turning over her shoulder to wink at him as she stood up. "Are we ready to go? I promised San I'd help you set up and stuff," She said.

"Why are you asking me? I'm a guy. I put on jeans, a clean shirt, and some sneakers and I'm good to go," He said, gesturing towards his baggy jeans that hung low on his hips and the black tee shirt that hugged his abs. Rachel gulped and he smirked.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked as she grabbed her overnight bag and started from her bedroom. Puck followed behind, taking the bag from her and swinging it over his shoulder.

"Yeah, of course. What's the matter?" He asked. He could just tell from the way her voice lowered and became about five times softer that she was asking him something that she didn't think he'd like.

"Why'd you start giving me slushy facials back in freshman year?" She wondered, opening to door of the house and allowing him to exit before following him outside, locking the door behind her.

He stared at the ground as they approached his truck. He swung her bag into the tiny back seat space and then climbed inside, where she was already sitting in the passenger's seat, looking straight ahead.

He should have expected to hear this question from her eventually. It only made sense that she'd be curious about it at one point or another-he was sure that everybody was asking the same question. Why had Noah Puckerman started throwing icy cold drinks made of crushed ice and food coloring with flavor into people's faces. And why had he decided to make Rachel Berry his first target, deeming her as a loser for life? Because that was what the slush facials did. They branded the victim as a loser forever.

"Remember in eighth grade, at the very end of the year? There was that big end-of-the-year dance and everybody was going, and pretty much all the guys had dates? There weren't really defined cliques, and you'd just transferred from that private school you went to a few months back," He reminded her, starting the car and pulling out of her driveway. "Well, you weren't a geek then. People thought you were weird, but all the guys thought you were hot and gorgeous and shit like that...you were actually pretty popular, but you didn't know it, and that made you cooler," He explained.

She nodded, showing that she did remember the dance, that she remembered how almost everybody had been friends for the final year of middle school. She'd had many friends, all of them Jewish. But then they'd all went to the Jewish private high school, which Rachel would have been attending if her fathers hadn't yanked her from the private middle school she went to, saying they wanted her to be a part of a normal high school structure-giving the public school systems a try. In a lot of ways, she blamed them for the bullying.

"Well, do you remember how I went up to you and asked you to go with me? And you said no. You rejected me, right then and there, without even thinking about it. You answered as soon as the words left my mouth. And when I asked why, you just shrugged and said you didn't like my _hair. _Remember, back then I didn't have the mohawk? It was sort of long and curly...they called me a Jonas Brother, you know? That really hurt. I went out and got the mohawk the next day. But, do you remember that I asked you during _lunch? _In front of everyone?" He asked her with a hollow sounding voice.

"I didn't really say no because of your hair cut," She told him honestly. "I said no because Ariel had a crush on you. You'd also made fun of Breindal, Charna, Deborah. Esther, and Feige because or their names. Not that anybody could really blame you. They were very traditional Jewish names, but I think their parents went a little too far on that one...but, besides that, you'd also managed to kiss Ilana, Hannah, Leah, and Naomi in the short while I'd been at the school before asking me to the dance. I respected the girl code, when I had friends," She said.

Out of all the girls she'd just named, the only ones she was still even somewhat close with were Ilana, Naomi and Ariel.

Puck also had his friends from the Jewish private school. Ethan, Levi, Aaron, and him were extremely close.

The six of them, along with Rachel, Jacob, Puck, and Puck's little sister were the only youth Jews at the Jewish Community Center.

The private school was meant for most of the Jewish teenagers in the district, including any school, not just McKinley.

For Lima, there was only a small hand full, and they tried to stay close.

"I was really mad at you," Puck told her, glancing at her as he drove on.

"Because I said no or because I insulted your hair?" she asked with a giggle.

"The fact that you said no so quickly." He said honestly.

"Did you really like me?"

"I liked you from the second we met, Rachel," He told her.

"Really?" She asked. "But we were so young.."

"You were different and I liked that." He shrugged.

"How often do you see Ethan, Levi and Aaron?" Rachel asked, trying to change the subject.

"Not as much as I'd like. What about you, Ilana, Ariel, and Naomi?" He asked.

"Barely ever. Just at Temple," SHe shrugged.

"We should all get together some time. Have a big Jew reunion. BUt you're not allowed to be alone with Levi," He teased her.

Back in the eighth grade, after Rachel had rejected Puck's invitation to the dance, his best friend, Levi Goldsmith, had asked her to attend the dance with him. As much as she'd wanted to go with Puck-even back then everybody referred to him as Puck, with the exception of Rachel, who still got to call him Noah-she couldn't, because she respected her friends too much. So, she'd said yes to Levi.

They'd dated for most of the summer, breaking up right before ninth grade had started and Puck's first slushy attack and hit Rachel in the face. And he'd done his damn best to spite her, too. Instead of using grape, which had always been her favorite, even back then, he'd used blueberry. The bright blue flavor which she hated with a cold, dying passion.

"You're such a jerk. Then I guess I can't let you be alone with Ilana or Naomi then," She teased right back. "But, in which case, I can't be alone with Ethan or Aaron..."She shrugged, winking at him as his hands clenched the steering wheel tighter. "Oh, ease up, you were still my first kiss, among other things," She shrugged off his anger.

"I can't believe Ariel dared you to kiss all three of them..."Puck said, shaking his head. He still seemed angry, but at least he was laughing now. He turned into Santana's driveway. "Do you think any of them would believe it? The Gleeks, I mean? If they knew what you and I had been like when we were younger?" He asked her softly, stopping the car and turning it off.

"I think, now that they've seen us together for so long and know how we affect one another, that they would. If we'd told them earlier...without giving an evidence, they would have all gotten heart attacks or something crazy like that," She shrugged as she opened the door of his truck and climbed out, heading towards Santana's with her hips swaying.


	44. Chapter 44

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 44  
_A/n: We're almost to the end here. One more chapter after this and it's all over. But, for now, it's not over yet!_  
**

"Noah, am I just like all the other girls?" Rachel asked later that night, cuddled up in his arms at Santana's house, on the love seat in the living room. Santana had long since disappeared with Brittany to do god knows what while Finn had passed out drunk in the corner hours ago. Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Artie, and Mike had all vanished into the basement to play some sort of game while Quinn was sleeping soundly in Santana's bed. They were all alone, and they were enjoying the privacy that they hadn't gotten so far that night.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked her, playing with her soft, dark brown hair absently. "I'm not sure I know who these other girls you're talking about are," He frowned.

"You know, Quinn and Santana and Brittany? All the other cheerleaders you've been with? I'm not just another conquest for you, am I? And please, Noah, just be honest with me because I couldn't bare having you lie to me. It'll crush me, alright? I can get over a hurtful truth much better than a lie meant to spare me the pain," She sighed.

"You're nothing like them, Rachel," He sighed, shaking his head. "I mean, I love you, Ray, and I'm not planning on stopping that," He adjusted their position so that she was sitting up, facing him, as he looked at her with a serious expression on his face as he began his speech. "I thought we went over this already? I'm going to love you until a mango falls off of an apple tree on the thirtieth day of February. I'm going to love you until June thirty first comes around and potatoes start to grow arms and legs and run around like Mr and Mrs Potato head. I'm going to love you until Princess Peach gets her act together and finally stops getting kidnapped in every freaking Mario game, alright?" He asked her with a playful grin on his face.

"How can you be so sure?" Rachel questioned.

"I'm sure because I'm confident in the fact that I'm going to do whatever it takes to hold onto you for as long as I can. I'm not making anymore stupid mistakes that could risk what you and I have, alright? We belong together, Berry, and nothing is going to change that." He said. "Do you wanna know what your problem is? You're afraid of falling in love, because you're terrified that I'm not going to catch you, just like every other guy you've ever given your heart to. Well, I'm not Jesse St. Dick, alright, Rachel? I actually love you-it's not some act I'm putting on because I was told to do it just to mess with you or introduce you to your mother or whatever reason he had for leading you on. And I'm not Finn Freaking Hudson, and I used to think that was a bad thing, but I don't think that anymore, because it means I'm not going to be some sort of idiot who leads you on because he's not sure if you're better than Quinn Fabray because you worship the very ground he walks on or if Quinn's the better choice because she's the most popular girl in school. I will never hurt you, Rachel. I promise you that, but you need to believe it. You can't just judge me based on your past experiences. Because if I based you on my experiences with Quinn or Santana, who are the only other girls I've ever actually sort of cared about, I would think you were a slut who only wanted to be laid. Somebody who only wanted the status of being with me. And that wouldn't be right or fair to you," He said.

That speech was definitely the longest speech that Rachel had ever heard Puck say at one time. It was the most heartfelt, most intense and deepest thing Puck had ever said to her, and it was definitely the closest he had ever come to discussing his feelings openly with her in a public place. And it was true in every single way possible. Rachel's head was telling her heart that she was wrong. She shouldn't give into love and she shouldn't be foolish enough to believe that it could actually last. After all, she had gotten hurt the last time she had allowed her heart to run wild. But, if she was really honest with herself, she would realize that her brain was telling her not to believe Puck's silly words and promises that he loved her. She couldn't fully allow herself to believe it until she was sure, due to his actions, that he loved her.

And his actions had proved that to her in so many ways, but for some reason, she was finding it hard to let herself believe. Because no matter what he did-whether it was showing up early when they had a date, unlike Finn who had always been late, or standing up until she sat down, unlike Jesse has done, where he'd never even held a door open for her, or he was merely talking to her and telling her stories about the movies he and his family would watch together, he was working to prove his love. He told her stories and asked her to tell him stories. Their conversations ran two ways, unlike her conversations that were either run by herself or centered around Jesse. And then, every now and then, Puck would toss his head back and start laughing like a little kid. And Rachel would think that was so strange, because he actually found her funny-but Finn and Jesse never had. Yet, when he questioned why she was so shy sometimes, she could never bring herself to bring either of her ex-flames up. Because they didn't matter when she was with him.

And it would be so much easier for her to believe that Puck was really capable of loving her, if she could just make herself believe that she was worthy of him. But she couldn't do that. It didn't matter that Santana Lopez was her best friend in the entire world. It didn't matter that Quinn Fabray had her back in a way that nobody would ever suspect. It didn't matter that Finn Hudson had once wanted to be with her more than anything in the world. It didn't matter that she had dated Jesse St. James and it didn't matter that Brittany Pierce had been jealous of her. It didn't matter that the bullying had stopped or that Sam Evans had been trying to get with her since arriving in Lima. Nothing that showed her gradual raise in popularity made her seem worthy of him, because it was merely all an affect of his relationship with her. Santana would not have been her friend if Puck and Rachel had never gotten together. If she and Puck hadn't dated, Brittany wouldn't have been jealous and Finn wouldn't have wanted her all of a sudden. And Quinn and her never would have become friends either, because Brittany wouldn't have been such a bitch. It all came back to Puck, and the popularity that he had.

"I just don't feel like I deserve you, Noah. I mean, I know that you say I'm too good for you, but look at the two of us. I'm the good girl. The school's mocking bird. They all hate me," She sighed. "And you? You're this big, strong bad ass that nobody can make fun of, because they're all too afraid of you and what you'd do to them. And even though everybody thinks you're so mean and tough, you're actually really nice and you care about people. And you understand them. I'm selfish and spoiled, and I get what I want through temper tantrums. You work hard to get the things you _need _and normally pass up on the things you want because you just don't have anymore energy to try and get what you simply want. I'm not worthy of somebody as honest and sweet as you. You're simple, and that's not a bad thing, Noah. It's a wonderful thing that I wish I was sometimes. And I really want-"She couldn't finish her speech though, because Puck cut her off by pressing his lips to hers, muttering a soft urge of silence at her as he kissed her, enjoying the way she smiled right into it.

* * *

"You're honestly dating Finn? What the...who would have expected _that _one to happen again, after all the shit you put him through?" Brittany Pierce asked the next morning as Rachel, Santana, Quinn and her worked on making breakfast for the glee members.

"All the abuse and torment you gave him? Damn, this is definitely the most _un_expected couple in all of glee history," Rachel laughed, shaking her head as she flipped the pancakes. THey were the only food she actually would agree to make, since the raw bacon sickened her even more than the scent of it cooking and she flinched each time she heard a crack of an egg. And she always managed to burn toast.

"Will you guys stop already? I get that it's shocking and everything, but I don't see why you all have to make such a big deal about it," Santana whined, a wide smile on her face.

"Well, I, for one, happen to think that it's adorable. I mean, it's just like Rachel and Puck with the bully and the victim, right on top of the good versus bad nonsense, only in reverse since Santana's the bad girl, bitchy bully and Finn's the stupid, naive, innocent moron who just takes all the abuse that comes his way about being one of the fattest football players in the entire world-I can say it, because I dated him," Quinn said, putting her hands up in innocence at Santana's glare. "But, I guess that just leaves you and I as the single ladies of the group now, Britt," Quinn sighed.

"Well...actually...I'm sort of dating somebody now," Brittany said, lowering her head sheepishly. Three heads snapped towards the girl working on buttering the toast at the table with a small, guilty smile on her face as she flushed bright red. The glares and shocked jaws of the Spanish Latino, the perky blonde, and the short future starlet all matched one another as they watched the blonde, waiting for her to go on with her shocking admission. "Well, last night Artie and I hooked up after everybody fell asleep. He asked me out and I said yes. I mean, I've kinda liked him for a while now-he's always been so sweet, and he's the only guy who never called me stupid or a slut, even when I was acting like a traditional blonde and being nothing more than a bitchy whore last year," Brittany said.

"Well, that's just great! All of my friends are dating somebody and all happy in love and all that bull shit where they gush about how much they love him and how he let her wear his sweat shirt, and I just stand here all by my lonesome saying random shit about how I love freaking doughnuts!" Quinn rolled her eyes as she turned back to the bacon she was making, something she found herself enjoying more than usual since her pregnancy.

"Hey, no boyfriend? No problem! I've learned that I happen to be an incredible match maker, after helping salvage Rachel and Puck's relationship repeatedly and getting Brittany and Artie together, whether anybody except the male half of that knows that I did anything to involve myself in their relationships." Santana bragged.

"Who says that I'm even interested in anybody?" Quinn asked, but her blush told everybody other wise.

"It's pretty obvious who you should be with. And it's even more obvious that the two of you should be together because you both like one another-besides the fact that you'd be the Ken and Barbie of this club," Brittany said happily with a simple shrug. It was shocking, really, seeing how bright and smart the blonde could be after all of her random babbling the previous years that had led everybody to the suspicion that she was nothing more than a blonde bimbo who didn't understand that two plus two was four and not fish, just because if you made two twos you ended up with a little kid's version of a fish drawing.

"Oh? And who is that supposed to-"Quinn was cut off by three voices saying Sam Evans in unison. She glared at her friends as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I hate you all. You pay much too much attention to me and my life and I think it's unhealthy. You're obsessed with me. Each and every one of you is obsessed with me and it's sickening to know that you watch me so closely that you know that I have a crush on Sam Evans. And it's even worse that you've all obviously discussed this and have paid enough attention to deem the two of us as the Ken and Barbie couple of the the Glee club. This is all ridicilous-especially she you seem to think he actually likes me when he's clearly into Rachel. Do any of you remember what happened between the two of them?" Quinn asked.

"He wanted Rachel for the simplicity of it. He thinks you're sexy and he wants to sex you up," Santana said simply. "He can't wait to tear your clothes off and make your bed rock," She stated as if it were a commonly known fact.

"Always the tactful one, aren't we?" Quinn muttered under her breath.

"There's only one problem with being with Sam. He's a complete and total player. He's harmless and all-he doesn't mean anything by it. It's just that he doesn't realize how he's supposed to act around girls because he went to an all guy's school. I mean, obviously-look at his hair? He thought that was a good look that would make him seem attractive to girls. It made him look gay," Rachel snickered.

"So, he's a player? Well, it's going to be nice getting to know him. I'm the coach after all. You can't play games with the girl who plays better. I made up all of those rules. Especially since I'm the one that dated Noah Puckerman, even if it was for a very brief amount of time. I'm good when it comes to making a player hang up his jersey and give up the game. I mean, just look at me-I'm the Barbie of all high school students in this hell hole-you all just admitted it yourselves," Quinn smirked, striking a pose before turning back to the bacon to turn off the stove.

"I think it's time we all have our own little imprompto assignment for glee," Rachel said with a devious grin on her face. She started to stack the pancakes onto a plate, knowing that she was being just a tad overdramatic with her idea. She also knew that Santana was giving her a death stare to match all other glares as the fiesty cheerleader waited for a response. She was positive that Quinn was tapping her foot impatiently as she rolled her eyes at Rachel's dramatics. And she could see Brittany bouncing up and down in excitement as she anticipated the great idea she was so sure that Rachel had. "You are the music in me-love songs, dedicated to our boys, dedicated to the boys we want to be with. You know how it is," Rachel shrugged as if it were obvious.

"Berry always has the best ideas," Santana sighed.


	45. Chapter 45

**Friends With Benefits  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Chapter 45  
_A/N: And with this chapter, it's all over_**

"Mr. Shuester? I have a song I'd like to sing-actually, all of us girls have a song we'd like to perform today, if it's alright to take over our entire rehearsal with solos-we sort of took it upon ourselves to come up with our own makeshift assignment this weekend at my house," Santana said sheepishly, already standing up and strolling towards the front of the room. Mr. SHuester could do nothing but nod his agreement, since it was obvious Santana would not be taking no for an answer in this one. "We'll each be serenading our significant other in our assignment we deemed as 'you are the music in me,'" She said, taking the front of the room and nodding towards Brad to begin playing her song. "This is for Finn," She smiled sweetly-well, as sweetly as Santana could manage to sing-at her boyfriend before she began to sing.

"_Bring the beat in-honey, honey/I can see the stars all the way from here/Can't you see the glow on the window pane?I can feel the sun whenever you're near/Every time you touch me I just melt away/Now everybody asks me why I'm smiling out from ear to ear-they say love hurts/But I know-it's gonna take a little work/Nothing's perfect, but it's worth it after fighting through the tears/and finally you put me first/Baby it's you-you're the one I love/You're the one I need-you're the only one I see/COme on, baby it's you/ You're the one that gives your all/You're the one I can always call/When I need you make everything stop/Finally you put my love on top," _She started off the Beyonce song.

Finn sat there with a proud, goofy smile on his face that had been absent from the tall quarterback since the previous year, when he'd thought he actually stood a fair chance of getting Rachel back. But, now the smile that had always been there when the popular boy had been the one everybody loved and worshipped was back. It was obvious from the way Santana couldn't smiling and Finn's own change in composure that the two of them actually cared about one another-maybe even happened to be in love.

The song finished and the room erupted into applause from everybody-even earning a standing ovation from Finn as Santana hurried into his arms, giving him a sloppy kiss in the mouth that Mr. Shuester had to break-up as it got too heated-except for Sam Evans who sat there was a sad look on his face, aimed at Quinn.

"Well, which of you girls is up next?" Mr. Shuester asked.

"That would be me!" Brittany said brightly, hurriedly making her way towards the front of the room and whispering her song choice to Brad. THe cheerio was dressed in her uniform, but her hair was down and loose across her face. "This song is for Artie, the best boyfriend in the entire world!" SHe gushed as the music started.

"_If I never knew you, if I never felt this love/I would have no inkling of how precious life can be/And if I never held you, I would never have a clue/How at last I'd find in you the missing part of me/In this world so full of fear, full of rage and lies/I can see the truth so clear in your eyes, so dry your eyes/And I'm so grateful to you, I'd have lived my whole life through/Lost forever if I never knew you," _Brittany began the Pochantas song, covered by the Cheetah Girls.

_"I thought our love would be so beautiful/Somehow we'd make the whole world bright/I thought our love would be so beautiful/We'd turn the darkness into light/And still my heart is saying we were right-we were right/And if I never knew you, if I never knew you/I'd have lived my whole life through, empty as the sky/Never knowing why, lost forever/If I never knew you, if I never knew you-if I never knew you," _She concluded the song, standing in front of Artie before dropping down onto his lap and embracing him in a tight hug, whispering a soft thank you to her boyfriend as Tina made her way to the front of the room.

"I'm singing my song to Mike, and it's called _Stay, Stay, Stay, _by Taylor Swift. I get that we fight a lot, MIke-just about all the time, and I know that sometimes I'm confused about where we stand because our fights are bad, but this song is meant to tell you everything that goes through my head whenever we get into an argument where it looks as if we're close to the end. Because, no matter what I say in a moment of anger, I always want you to stay right by my side, because I love you, and that's really all there is to it. So, just keep this in mind whenever we're arguing because I want to leave a party early or you're talking to some flirty cheerleader who's all over you," She grinned as she nodded for Brad to begin to play-sometimes the club wondered how he always seemed to know the notes to whatever song they wanted.

_"I'm pretty sure we almost broke up last night/I threw my phone across the room at you/I was expecting some dramatic turn-away, but you stayed/This morning I said we should talk about it/Cause I read you should never leave a fight unresolved/That's when you came in wearing a football helmet and said okay let's talk/ANd I said stay stay stay/ I've been loving you for quite some time-time-time/You think that it's funny when I'm mad-mad-mad/But I think that it's best if we both stay," _Tina started off Taylor Swift's new song with a playful grin on her face.

When she was finished with her song, Mercedes jumped to her feet and hurried towards the front of the room, taking her place as Tina hurried back to her seat, taking Mike's hand in her own and giving him a kiss on the cheek. THe club was honestly shocked to see Mercedes there, as they were almost certain she was single-especially Kurt who even went as far as to voice his shock out loud.

"I turned down your date ideas because I'm actually in a relationship, Kurt," Mercedes explained with an eye roll. "RIght before Matt left for his new school, the two of us got together and started dating-it's not all that serious, but it's a relationship," She said.

"Aw!" Rachel cooed as Kurt mumbled about being left out of the loop-he was still mad at not being included in the girls' solo spree.

"Kurt! You don't have a boyfriend so you don't get to sing a solo! It's not that hard to understand. And you don't even have a crush-or, at least one that's reasonable, alright?" Rachel snapped, turning towards her best gay friend.

"I highly resent that comment made about my crush. I don't think that there is anything unreasonable with me having a crush on him just because we belong to differing social classes. I mean, this is the twenty first century. I don't think it's like the seventeen hundreds or back when there was a very strict and rigid caste system keeping the interaction of outcasts and nobles from being together," He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not saying it's unreasonable because he's popular and you're in the glee club! What kind of person would I be if I thought that? Look at my boyfriend for crying out loud! I'm saying that it's unreasonable-not because it's the straightest guy that I've ever met who would never sway in the opposite direction or even take a swing for the other team. He most definitely likes girls. But, I'm saying that it's unreasonable because he's my freaking boyfriend and he used to throw you into dumpsters! And, besides that, you're being incredibly rude to Mercedes. Mer, please sing us your solo now," Rachel said, changing the subject flawlessly as Puck sat there in shock.

_"Remember the first day when I saw your face? Remember the first day when you smiled at me?You stepped to me and then you said to me/I was the woman you dreamed about/Remember the first day when you called my house/Remember the first day when you took me out/We had butterflies although we tried to hide it/We both had a beautiful night/THe way we held each others hand, the way we talked, the way we laughed/It felt so good to find true love/I knew right then and there you were the one/I know that he loves me cause he told me so/I know that he loves me cause his feelings show when he stares at me you can see he cares for me/You see how he is so deep in love/I know that he loves me cause its obvious," _ Mercedes belted out the old Destiny's Child song effortlessly.

"Wait a second-Kurt has a crush on me?" Puck asked. "I mean, Mercedes, you rocked that song all the way to Israel and all that bull shit, but I need to change the subject for a couple of minutes here," Puck explained as the girl finished her song with a shrug as she went back to her seat. She just didn't want to be excluded-she could have cared less about actually performing her song. "Now, what the hell is up with all this shit about Kurt having a crush on me, because I'm getting a little bit freaked out here about it," He questioned Rachel with a confused arch to his eyebrows.

"I don't have a crush on you," Kurt rolled his eyes. "It's not so much of a crush as a fascination. I'm very intrigued by the sweet gestures that Rachel receives by being your girlfriend, and I may have made a few comments to her about wanting a boy just like you and wondering if she were ever going to give you up, but I was merely joking. Personally, you're a little bit too strong for my tastes," Kurt said.

"Damn, he just sounded like Rachel," Puck shook his head. "And did you just insult my guns, because that shit ain't kosher! I've got the most bad ass arms in this entire school and even Rachel Berry admitted it!" He snapped.

"Yes, Noah, we all understand that you're arms are quite lovely. But let's allow Quinn her turn to sing now, alright?" Rachel cut in.

"Thank you," Quinn smiled at Rachel as she made her way towards the front of the room, explaining her song choice as she walked. "I know that I don't have a boyfriend and all, but I do have a crush and apparently he likes me as well, so, here goes nothing," She shrugged easily as she started to sing, Brad playing the intro easily.

"_Took a deep breath in the mirror-he didn't like it when I wore high heels, but I do/TUrned the lock and put my headphones on-he always said he didn't get this song, but I do-I do/Walked in expecting you'd be late, but you got here early and you stand and wave/I walk to you, you pull my chair out and help me in/ANd you don't know how nice that is-but I do,"_ Quinn started the Taylor Swift song softly, her gaze just grazing past Sam.

"_A__nd you throw your head back laughing like a little kid/I think it's strange that you think I'm funny cause he never did/I've been spending the last 8 months/THinking all love ever does is break and burn and end/But on a Wednesday in a cafe-I watched it begin again/He said he never met one girl who had as many James Taylor records as you/But I do/We tell stories and you don't know why, I'm coming off a little shy-but I do," _She went on with the next part of the song, her gaze growing more confident on him as he brightened up as the song went on, before he approached her and the two smiled, a few whispered words and a nod confirming they were now together.

"And we all know who's up next," Santana snickered as Rachel stood up slowly, straightening her outfit before making her way towards the front of the room, standing in the very front of the room, right in the middle as she stared at the happy couples-and the few single stragglers. For once, she could just feel that everything was alright. This was going to be a good year for the glee club. She could tell from the fact that for once, they all loved one another without any drama or ties that made relationships awkward. Everybody was friends with one another and there was no jealousy. It was all perfect, for once, and it gave Rachel even more confidence than she usually had before she was about to perform a solo in front of an audience.

"Of course this song is about Noah-it would only be nonsense if I sang a love song to anybody else, as he is the guy I've loved for quite some time now, and he does happen to be my boyfriend. AS Tina and QUinn have done, I've selected a Taylor Swift song, but some of you may think this is closer to a break-up song. But, it describes the relationship that you have all dubbed as Puckleberry better than any other song that I was able to find, so, I hope you all enjoy it," She smiled brightly, nodding for Brad to begin the song, before allowing her soft, even voice that was full of power to take over.

_"LOving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street/Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly/Loving him is like trying to change your mind once you're already flying through the free fall/Like the colors in autumn, so bright just before they lose it all," _She sang, her eyes locked on the floor as she got into her character, singing the song as if it were the story of her life, her own words being released.

_"Losing him was blue like I'd never known/Missing him was dark grey all alone/Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met/But loving him was red/Loving him was red," _ She said, recalling their horrid break-ups and her attempts to move on.

She kept on singing the song, ending to, of course, applause from all.

* * *

"Do you know why we're the perfect couple?"

"Why?"

"Because we can act like we're best friends,"

"We are best friends, Noah,"

"I know, but I love how we can be one of those couples, you know?"

"We're just friends with benefits, I guess..."

"And lots of perks,"

"Oh, shut up and kiss me already,"

"See?"

"Ass,"

"Diva,"

"Man-whore,"

"I love you,"

"I love you too,"


End file.
